The Bridge of Sighs
by missingJane
Summary: Two lives are on the line, one a killer, one his potential new victim. Both are trapped with the world watching live on the Web. Will the FBI lose one of their own today? Can they unravel the mess that a confused family has created? Who cares enough to find the truth before someone crosses a line and the bodies start to pile up once again?
1. Sweating It Out

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter

Sweating It Out

Beads of sweat raced down the young man's face. It was hot out here, under the mid-afternoon sun. HIs black shirt and dark heavy pants only served to make him all the more uncomfortable in the unforgiving heat. Texas in August was a special kind of hell if you didn't have an air conditioned room in which to seek shelter from the solar blast this time of the day. A swimming pool made life even better, but he was not fortunate enough to avail himself of that pleasure anymore. His prematurely balding head was now well on its way to being sunburned, as there was no shade to be found here, in the middle of the bridge. His dry mouth cried out for water, juice, ice...hell, anything wet and cold. A demand for a drink would instantly be honored, but at what cost to himself? Would it be handed over with drugs swirled inside? Would his vision begin to swim and his mind wander if he dared to drink despite his great thirst? Then what would happen? Damn it all to hell and gone! This had not gone to plan and now the whole goddamned city was baying at his heels, like a pack of frenzied wolves, longing for blood and gore. Did they need his blood? Did they want his death? God forbid anyone should listen to him and get his side of this shitty story. A heavy sigh caught his attention and his eyes swivelled away from the crowds assembled at either end of the old steel bridge spanning an otherwise unimportant little river. He refocused his attention on his companion. Was he a companion at this point or just more detritus to shove away in disgust when he was no longer a viable resource? The poison tipped dagger hovered at the other man's throat, sometimes almost touching the skin, other times wavering wildy behind his head at the base of his skull where it joined his spine. Just a quick thrust of pressure and a cut would open up and expose bone, allowing poison inside the tender exposed flesh and then it would Good Bye World, it's been good to know ya! No more 'companion', or hostage, whatever this man was. Alone then, maybe he could manage to escape from this bunch of local yokels.

Curious farmers, housewives and kids too young or disinterested to be in school this time of day were clumped together at both ends of their largely forgotten bridge. Sirens sounded in the distance but for now it was just the two men on the bridge facing down these confused but excited locals, who against their better natures, hoped for a dramatic and bloody ending to this standoff. Sweat made the knife hard to hold onto, and the desperate young man kept readjusting his hold on his weapon, muttering to himself while his "companion" stayed unnaturally still. The poison on the knife edge was real, and lethal without the antidote available instantly should anyone be sliced open either by design or by accident. Both of the men could in fact be the victims of the business end of the knife before this day was over.

A cloud of dust rose up in the distance and soon an old Ford pickup truck slammed on the brakes and disgorged its passengers. A rancher and his two sons spilled out and ran for the near end of the bridge, accompanied by an excited and straining coonhound. The large smooth-haired hunting dog was howling and drooling at the end of his rope, desperate to be set free to pounce on one or both men stuck in the middle of the bridge.

"Let'em go Wardell! Sick that fuckin' dog on those two bastards and we'll all go home in time for supper!" shouted a short, bespeckled farmer eager for this whole fiasco to be brought down by a homegrown hero.

"Yeah Wardell, let old Buzzard loose on'em and we'll have our bridge back before those jackass Sheriff's deputies finally get their asses outta those chairs back at the station!" howled a thin and frazzled woman in a too-large housedress. Buzzard the coonhound was famous for his tracking skills and so what if he brought down two unwanted and most likely terroristic city folks out here in the backcountry? Hell, if you weren't born in this county, you might as well be a terrorist to that woman's way of thinking. The dog lurched and strained against his rope but his handler kept a tight hold on him as the next vehicle to pull up was the Sheriff's car followed closely by several black Federal SUV's. A group of agents dressed severely in black suits stepped out into the dust and pushed through the unyielding group of people clogging the end of the bridge closest to the assembled cars. If there were a hundred people staring at the sweating men on the bridge, at least 80 of them had arms extended high in the air live-streaming the whole incident on their cell phones for all the world to see on Facebook and Youtube. This is what had brought the FBI out today, not the notification of the Sheriff who also tried to make his way through the rowdy crowd.

"Nice ya finally showed up Clem!" chided Wardell. "I was gonna get Buzzard here to bring'em down for ya!"

"You just keep that dog under control Wardell and we'll get along fine" the Sheriff warned the farmer calmly.

The sweating man holding his silent hostage viewed the crowd parting to allow the FBI agents and the Sheriff closer access to the end of the bridge nearest to him.

"Shit!" he mumbled to himself, grasping his companion's upper arm all the tighter. "Now what do they want?" he managed to squeak out to no one in particular. His hostage was wisely silent.

The Sheriff, Clemson Arkell, stood with his hands on his hips and was joined by Senior FBI Agents Cho, Lisbon and Director Abbott. All three agents stared in astonishment at the scene playing out in front of them, just as it had when IT tech specialist Jason Wylie brought it to their attention back at FBI headquarters not 20 minutes earlier.

"How's it going?" Cho called out conversationally to the men at the centre of the maelstrom. "How can we help you resolve this problem?"

"Shut the fuck up and go away!" warned the man in black. His companion dared to turn his head fractionally and stared at the fire power assembled at the end of the bridge. His eyes grew larger when he noticed the Federal Agents staring back at him.

"May I?" he whispered to his captor bravely. "Can't hardly hurt just about now, wouldn't you agree?"

The young desperate man glared at him but couldn't find a good enough reason to make his hostage stay silent now, not now at last.

"Are you alright Sir?" yelled Abbott to the hostage. Lisbon just kept her gun aimed squarely at the young kidnapper's forehead.

The hostage cleared his throat but dared not move an inch, as the poisoned end of the knife was still within striking distance of his jugular vein.

"Ahh...yes...I'm alright. Just peachy. A bit thirsty but otherwise we are just fine. Thanks for asking!" he added brightly. His message was meant to convey fear but also calmness. He hoped it was understood by the assembled law enforcement personnel. After all, he had absolutely no cards left to play to get himself out of this mess, which was not the usual situation for one Patrick Jane to find himself in.


	2. Better Days

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. Much appreciated.

The Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 2

Better Days

(2 days previously)

Jane and Lisbon left for work separately as Lisbon had a performance appraisal review to do with Abbott and Jane intended to use his time more pleasantly until she was free to join him in the bullpen. Jane had been wanting to visit a new exhibit at the Museum of Texas for a few days now, and this would give him just enough time to pop in and see it before joining the team at work. Lisbon had balked at the idea of meandering around the museum so soon after their last visit. While she enjoyed history and culture as much as Jane, well, not quite as much as Jane, she just couldn't stomach strolling through another darkened exhibit hall reading plaques and memorizing trivia on an otherwise free day. So much of their time was spent either inside at the FBI building or out in the field questioning suspects or gathering evidence, that a day off work was just that, a day off with nothing taking her time and her mind away from whatever she wanted to do, even if that turned out to be nothing. So Jane took this opportunity early on a work day to fill his need for history.

The small car that Jane was driving pulled up to the parking lot close to the museum and he got out to walk the half block to the impressive building. Much as he had enjoyed his life in Sacramento whilst working at the CBI, he now had to admit that Austin Texas had much to offer culturally. The state pride was evident everywhere, with the Lone Star State's flag proudly displayed everywhere and on every surface, even more prominently than the Stars and Stripes it seemed. The heat was just starting to build and Patrick was glad he had left his jacket in the car, wearing his usual comfy cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up, along with his vest and matching pants. Lisbon had told him in a moment of weakness how much she loved it when he still wore his vest, and so he kept wearing them, just for her. Touching the fabric with a smile he thought of Teresa, and felt content and happy. Both conditions were pretty much a constant for him these days. He and Teresa had admitted, finally, that they loved each other and had reached a happy place in their lives. As far as Jane was concerned, the only thing missing was a ring on Teresa's finger, and he was certainly going to take the necessary steps to make sure that her finger was not bare very much longer. Grinning at his own inner thoughts Jane ran up the steps to the museum and didn't notice the commotion at the top of the stairs until he found himself in the midst of a what seemed like a domestic disturbance.

Two people were shouting loudly at each other as they made their way out of the entrance to the museum. Staff there had kicked them out due to their disruptive behaviour. The smaller woman lashed out at the taller man and berated him for his stupidity. He in turn castigated her for her negative attitude and lack of support. Jane found himself caught between the two of them when they suddenly stopped walking and he almost ran into them at the top of the steps. They continued yelling loudly at each other and the woman took a swipe at the taller young man. When Jane found himself on the receiving end of the misplaced punch he stopped and held out his arms to separate both warring parties. A security guard raced over and asked Jane if he needed help and should he call the police. Cradling his injured jaw, Jane shook his head, no. He had suffered much worse at the hands of villains more violent than these two squabbling siblings. At the mention of the police both young people suddenly pulled themselves together and stopped quarrelling. The young woman ran off without a backward glance while the man apologized to Jane, and the security guard, then started to head off in the opposite direction, to put as much space as he could between himself and his hot headed sister. Jane was happy to just walk away from this little scene of familial disharmony, but noticed the man had dropped his wallet. Picking it up he decided to follow the young man as he was sure he wouldn't get far in the city today without his wallet. The fact that the young man intrigued Jane also factored into his hasty decision to pursue the stranger. There was something not quite right about these two siblings...

The tall young man had moved away from the museum steps and was making his way to a small car parked on a side street when Jane managed to catch up to him.

"Cal!" Jane called out to him, having viewed his driver's license and personal information. "I think you need this if you want to get home again tonight!"

Cal stopped dead in his tracks and turned towards the stranger's voice. When he saw that it was that dapper blonde man who had been punched by his frustrated sister minutes ago, he hung his head in shame and didn't move when Jane finally reached the side of his car.

"You dropped this Cal" said Jane, holding out the wallet. Calvin Hoekstra took his wallet meekly and shook his head in disgust.

"Thank you" he mumbled, not daring to lift his face to make eye contact with this stranger. "You probably want to take a punch at me. I deserve it" he offered.

Jane smiled and put his hands in his pants pockets. Rocking slightly back and forth on his heels, he appraised the young man and saw only shame, regret, and ...what else? Fear? What was this guy afraid of?

"No punching necessary. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although your sister does have a mean right hook!" he laughed, seeing the relief roll over Calvin's face.

Calvin lifted his head and ventured a smile at this kind man. "Yeah, sorry about that. She is a loose cannon on the best of days. She gets pretty wound up about things and usually I'm the one on the receiving end of her fist."

Jane studied the young man and instantly knew there was something amiss in all this. Calvin was guarded in his speech but seemingly open to talking to Jane about his sister and her wicked temper.

"But you would never defend yourself against her and hit her back, I would wager" Jane posited.

Cal nodded in agreement. "No, never, no matter how much she pisses me off. She's my sister and a girl… and what kind of creep hits a girl?" he answered honestly.

"A good man keeps his hands to himself. You're no creep Cal" Jane said, although he wasn't sure if it was true.

"Thanks man."

Jane turned to walk back to the museum but realized he had lost valuable time and would soon have to leave for work. A slow stroll through the new exhibit would have to wait for another day. As Jane nodded his goodbye to Cal, the young man suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Jane's shoulder, stopping him.

"What is it?" Jane asked, seeing conflict flit across Calvin's face.

Cal stood silently for a moment, aghast at what he had just done. He had impulsively stopped a total stranger from leaving so that he could continue their conversation. Good God Almighty! What was he thinking at that moment? He couldn't tell this stranger his secrets! Jane turned and faced Calvin and saw his regret at acting so impetuously. What was going on here? Certainly much more than brother/sister bickering. Cal was stuck for words. Now what?

"Feel like grabbing a coffee and a chance for some conversation?" ventured Jane, intrigued now. "Don't worry...I'm straight as an arrow and not coming on to you...but I think you need someone to talk to today" he assured the conflicted young man. Calvin smirked at Jane's assurances of his sexual orientation, and finally smiled for the first time.

"Coffee sounds good. From one straight arrow to another, I think I can manage a coffee just about now."

"Excellent! I know a fine establishment just around the corner. We can talk about your feisty sister and I will promise to just listen. Then I have to get back to work. Sound like a plan?"

"Sure...OK."

Calvin pocketed his wallet and put away his car keys. Jane had already memorized his license plates and would look up the ownership information later that morning to see just who Calvin Hoekstra really was and if he had a criminal record. Cal came around the car and joined Jane on the sidewalk.

"Patrick Jane!" Jane announced, offering his hand to Calvin.

"Calvin Hoekstra" came the reply as Cal politely shook the proffered hand. A slender index finger placed against his pulse point revealed Calvin's racing heart to Jane. Odd. As they moved along the sidewalk towards the coffee shop, Jane engaged Cal in small talk to suss out a bit more about this enigmatic young man.

"Hoekstra...that's a Dutch name isn't it?" guessed Jane.

"Yes. My grandparents came to America after the Second World War since Holland was pretty much decimated by bombs and the people were starving. Oma and Opa knew that a fresh start would give them a chance to begin again, and luckily for them, they made a success out of their new lives here. My parents were born in America and my sister and I are second generation American, and first generation Texan."

"Who is the eldest, you or your sister?"

Derision ghosted across Cal's face. "Adrianna is two years older than me and she never stops rubbing that in my face" he said with bitterness.

They approached the coffee shop and sat at an outside table while their coffee was prepared.

"Are your folks still alive Cal?" asked Jane carefully, noting the strained look on the young man's face as soon as Adrianna was mentioned.

"No. No they're gone now...both died on the same day."

"Uh huh… sorry about that…" Jane mumbled, studying Cal's demeanor. His face showed anger, sadness, shame...and fear yet again. There was that fear rising up again. Why be afraid because his parents were dead? And how did they come to die on the same day? Jane filed that bit of information away for further scrutiny.

"Hard to lose both parents like that" Jane opined, hoping to elicit a response from Cal that would explain a bit more of what he suspected was an interesting if not unusual story.

Cal wiped his hands across his face and sighed deeply. "Yeah...you could say that.``

Their coffees showed up and for a few minutes both men remained silent. Calvin stirred his coffee relentlessly, seeing more than cream in his swirling cup. Jane studied him closely and wanted him to open up. Something bad happened to Calvin. Something close to home and frightening. He waited. Perhaps another approach would open Calvin up.

"What made your sister so mad that she felt she needed to take a swipe at you?"

The young man opposite Jane looked out into the street and studied the people hurrying on their way to who knew where and felt empty to the core. The one person who should have loved and supported him all these years only wanted to hurt him and grind him down, day in and day out. Adrianna was never a great sister but he had at least hoped she would be an OK sister once they were alone in the world. His head was shaking back and forth as he had an interior dialogue with himself. Jane noticed.

"That bad huh…" Jane said, surprising Cal with his astuteness. Quickly gathering himself together Cal smiled at his new friend and vigorously shook his head in denial.

"No! Of course not! It's all good. Really. So good. Adrianna is just in a mood, that's all. By this afternoon she'll be all sunshine and smiles, like usual" he grinned, not fooling Jane for a minute.

"But this morning she was going to punch you out, in public, after picking a fight inside the museum so disruptive that you both got thrown out minutes after the museum opened. But it's all good…" said Jane dryly.

Cal glared at Jane and leaned back in his chair, his mouth firmly clamped shut. Jane threw some money on the table and stood up. This was conversation was going nowhere and this was not his business after all.

"Cal, it's been interesting. I hope you and your sister can patch up your problems and enjoy being with each other. Life's too short for this behaviour. Be well."

Jane strolled away from the table while Calvin watched him from his chair. What a strange man this Patrick Jane was. He watched Jane's retreating form until it disappeared around the corner. With a heavy sigh, Calvin stood and made his way to his car and drove off, quickly putting the whole strange episode out of his mind. Maybe by tonight his sister would have cooled off and not make his evening a living hell. Maybe.


	3. Peeling Back The Layers

Many thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. It seems that there is a craving for fresh Mentalist fiction. Please, everyone who loves this fandom, get busy writing! We need you! Anyway...here's the next chapter. Not sure when I will get a chance to write again as it will be a busy weekend for me.

The Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 3

Peeling Back The Layers

Jane mulled over his missed opportunity at the museum that morning as he strolled into the bullpen. Lisbon was not at her desk yet, so Abbott still had her tied up doing her performance review. She hated the quarterly reviews but always got top marks in all areas of FBI work. Abbott knew the result of the appraisal was a foregone conclusion, as he would automatically give her a glowing review, but he too had to play along with the system. So, both went through the motions politely and looked forward to actually getting back to work as soon as possible.

Jason Wylie was already at his desk, noodling around on his computer, waiting for a fresh assignment to land in his IN tray. Jane saw his chance to get Wylie to do some research into the mysterious Hoekstra siblings while the office was still quiet. If Lisbon knew Jane was taking Wylie's time looking into those two people she would scold both Jane and young Jason and tell them to devote their time to actual FBI cases. So, with the cat gone, the large blonde mouse nipped over to Wylie's desk and got down to business.

"Morning Jane!" chirped Wylie, pausing his hands on his keyboard.

"Good morning Wylie! Busy with anything important at the moment?" asked Jane with as much innocence as possible.

"Nope. Can I help you with anything?"

Jane withdrew a wrinkled slip of paper from his vest pocket and handed it to Wylie.

"As a matter of fact yes, there is something you can do for me. I need you to run these license plates for me and find out everything you can about the current owner of the car, and any previous owners if possible."

"Do we have a new case?"

"Not exactly. Consider this a personal request best kept between the two of us for the moment. Would that be a problem Wylie?" Jane asked. Until he knew that something really was amiss with the Hoekstra kids, he didn't want to mention the scene at the museum to Lisbon just yet.

"No, no problem" Jason answered, happy to help his eccentric friend. "Do you have a VIN number to make the search go quicker?" Wylie asked hopefully.

"Sorry, no. At least, not yet. Also, can you look up whatever you can find about two young people? Adrianna and Calvin Hoekstra. Both in their early twenties, born in Texas, quite possibly in the Austin area. Both parents are dead."

"Are the grandparents still alive? Names?" asked Wylie.

"No idea, but I would guess the grandparents are dead. Worth checking."

"What am I looking for specifically Jane? Has there been a crime committed? Do I check police files?"

"That remains to be seen Jason. I only have what I gave you. I'm just working on a hunch right now and these people may be totally ordinary, law abiding citizens. Or serial killers…" he trailed off.

Wylie swivelled his head up to see if Jane was just teasing, but seeing his serious expression, he realized he wasn't kidding. OK then...better find out as much as possible.

Just as Jane was strolling back towards his sofa Lisbon walked into the bullpen closely followed by Cho and Abbott. Cho sat at his desk and made some phone calls while Abbott headed for the small kitchen to brew some fresh coffee. Lisbon sat at her desk and reached for her keyboard, but before her fingers could hit the surface, a large hand yanked her chair and pulled her backwards towards the sofa. Twisting her chair around to face him, Jane smiled broadly and patted the sofa cushion beside him, inviting Lisbon to sit with him instead of starting work.

"Good morning, again…"she smiled.

"I missed you" Jane grinned.

"I'm not surprised! It's been all of ...what? 90 minutes since I saw you at home?" she teased.

"Come here" Jane commanded her, making room for her beside him.

"Jane, I have work to do. WE have work to do. Sitting in the sun staring at each other isn't going to get much accomplished."

Jane put his hand surreptitiously on hers and looked stricken by her rejection of his invitation to cuddle up on the sofa in full view of the other agents.

"You wound me Lisbon. Time flies too quickly in this life and to refuse to take a few moments to sit in the sun, starting the day gently before we delve back into death, larceny and mayhem...you disappoint me."

Lisbon withdrew her hand and yanked Jane to his feet. "Sorry about that Jane but duty calls." She bent closer to whisper in his ear.

"We can take more than a few moments to appreciate the sun, nature and each other later, at home. How does that sound?" she smirked lasciviously.

Jane moaned loudly and muttered an appropriate reply meant only for her ears and walked with her to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea before they got their first assignment of the day. The morning passed quickly discussing a bank heist with the possible participation of the security guard as the inside man, and Jane had no time to ask Wylie about his research into the Hoekstra family. Shortly after lunch Jane wandered over to Jason's desk while Lisbon and Cho conferred on the bank robbery case.

"Anything turn up so far about the license plates or the two Hoekstra's?"

Jason nodded his head and switched screens on his laptop to a bookmarked page of information.

"Ok...well, the car is registered in the name of Adrianna Hoekstra. It previously belonged to her father, Klaas Hoekstra. Klaas and Henny Hoekstra both died two years ago in a house fire. The two children, Adrianna and Calvin were away at the time and were not involved. The grandparents died two and a half years ago." Jane made a mental note that four people died within six months of each other. What were the odds of that happening in a family?

"Did you find out their names?"

"Yes, I found an obituary notice for Klaas and Henny and it mentioned his deceased parents, Herman and Miriam Hoekstra."

"Any mention anywhere as to why they died? And where?" Jane pushed.

"Let's see...yup, here it is...the obituary for Herman and Miriam. They died on a business trip back to Holland two and a half years ago. They were killed in a car accident driving back to the airport. Their grandchildren Adrianna and Calvin accompanied them to Holland as they wanted to see the country their family came from."

"Were they in the car when the accident happened?" Jane asked.

Jason scrolled down the page and searched for more details. Stopping at a small footnote, he shook his head.

"Umm...no. They had left the hotel earlier and planned to do some shopping before joining their grandparents at the airport."

Jane stared off into space. So many scenarios were running through his mind but he had to make sure he wasn't seeing a crime where instead a simple tragedy had occurred. He leaned in and read the highlighted section of the page Wylie had pulled up on the screen. Apparently the family ran a lucrative import business which the grandparents had started. When they were killed, the business was willed to Klaas and Henny, who had worked alongside the grandparents and were well equipped to take over the reins of the business quickly. When Klaas and Henny died, the business was passed on to Adrianna and Calvin. Even before they graduated from University, they were set for life.

"If they don't screw it up, it should be as profitable for them as it was for their grandparents and parents" Jason prattled on, reading more bits of information about the extended family, but the outcome was undeniable. The Hoekstra kids were sitting on an importing goldmine.

Jane absorbed this information and felt an unease settle on him. How convenient that a business that was so successful fell into the hands of Cal and Adrianna at such a young age. According to all reports, the grandparents were youthful and had no intention of retiring from the business they had started. It would have been years before Cal's parents inherited the business, and even longer until Adrianna and Calvin got their hands on it. But suddenly, in just under three years, Cal and Adrianna owned the whole multi-national enterprise.

Jane straightened up and tapped his long index finger across his bottom lip, deep in thought. The Hoekstra family had terrible luck with accidents killing both spouses at the same time. What were the chances of that happening? Twice?

"Can you print off everything you found and let me have it Wylie?"

"Already did. Here ya go" Jason said, handing over a slim file folder. "Let me know if I can find anything else for you Jane" said Jason eagerly. Experience had taught him that if Jane was onto something, sooner or later it would lead to an interesting case. Being part of the investigation right from the first moment would be exciting. As long as he didn't get into trouble with Abbott, or Lisbon, for that matter, he would play along.

Jane sat with the meager information in front of him, re-reading the sad history of the Hoekstra family. Jason was busy talking with Abbott now so he couldn't ask him to dig deeper today. Spying an empty desk, Jane sauntered over and sat facing the computer screen. Counter to the widely held belief that he was a computer illiterate, Jane knew his way around a laptop but preferred to nose out his information by reading people and asking endless questions. The answers always revealed themselves by way of 'tells', and it was 'way more fun to needle people than hitting a keyboard for hours. In this case, which was not a case at all, at least not yet, Jane couldn't interview anyone. By digging into the past, perhaps something would emerge to prove that his hunch was correct. Jane suspected that there was something decidedly wrong with the Hoekstra family. Much as he wanted to put Cal and Adrianna in an interrogation room to determine their part in the deaths of their relatives, he could not. There was no case, no apparent crime, no unresolved mystery. Just a nagging feeling that someone got away with murder. Twice. Answers would have to wait.

While an afternoon spent mulling his theories over in his mind would have been a pleasant distraction, Jane was called out into the field with Cho and Lisbon to speak with the staff at the bank. Everyone had an alibi but the two security guards recited the same story, almost word for word. It was too practiced, and too rehearsed. One of them was the inside man and the other was somehow induced to go along with the robbery. Fifteen minutes with Jane in the interrogation room broke the poor man who had been coerced into aiding in the robbery, as he was threatened with harm to his new wife and baby. He turned State's evidence against the other guard and by the end of the day, the robbery had been solved with the money recovered from a local motel room. For Jane it was a simple case and he looked forward to a romantic evening alone with Lisbon. He weighed the possibility of telling her about his meeting with Cal and Adrianna, but decided to just let it ride for the time being. It could turn out to be nothing and he didn't want her rubbing his nose in his wild theory for the next two weeks.

Dinner was a simple but delicious meal of chicken fettucine and spinach salad, washed down with a robust wine. Jane was the de facto chef in this household, which was just fine with Lisbon. Left to her own devices she would still be dining on cold, limp leftover takeout and washing it down with a cold beer. How she maintained her svelte figure was a mystery to Jane. Lately he had taken to working out more in the FBI gym as he had noticed the first signs of softness around his midsection. Some cardio and more importantly, swimming would soon get him in shape again. Yes, a lifetime of being a showman had made him vain in a quiet way, and he had no intention of going to seed one minute sooner than necessary.

When they were finished tidying up, Jane and Lisbon moved to the living room to choose a movie, cuddling up together at one end of the sofa. This was the simple life Jane had always craved, even if he hadn't known it when he was a famous psychic on television every week and holding large crowds of the faithful in the palm of his hand whenever he held a public reading. Going home to his Malibu home had, at the time, seemed to be just what he wanted, but now, looking back, Jane realized he would have been just as happy, if not more content, to live with Angela and Charlotte in a small house in a neighbourhood just like this one. But that was then...and he wouldn't have been wise enough then to understand the allure of a simple life with the family he loved.

Lisbon settled next to his warm body and sipped her wine. While Jane set up the movie, she remembered his trip to the museum. Odd that he had not regaled her with every detail of the exhibit over supper.

"Did you enjoy the new exhibit at the museum this morning?"

Without looking up, Jane clicked onto the movie they had agreed upon and sounded totally uninterested in the subject. "Ahh...never got inside to see it. I'll have to go again when I have a free hour or two."

"Why not?"

Jane had hoped to avoid the talking about that subject but here he was doing just that.

"I got there as soon as the doors opened, but a fight broke out on the steps leading into the building, and I happened to get in the middle of it. One thing led to another...so, no, I didn't actually get inside. I'll go another day" he glossed over, hoping to put the story to bed.

Lisbon put down her wine and sat up. "Hold on...back up...you got in the middle of a fight on the museum steps? Are you alright?"

Jane put down the remote and smiled at her concern. "I am fine, just a little bruised, that's all. A brother and sister got into a fight and got thrown out of the building. I happened to be going by when she took a swing at him. She hit me instead." Seeing Lisbon's worried expression, Jane decided to milk the situation now for sympathy and a few extra kisses.

"Actually she had a mean right hook...got me right here" he mugged, jutting his face out to show Lisbon the faint bruise forming along his jawline.

Lisbon ran her palm along his face and kissed him tenderly. "Only you could get punched out just trying to go to a museum. Did the police come and lay a charge?"

Jane leaned in for another kiss and then straightened up. "It all blew over quickly and the girl ran off. I was going to leave as well but I noticed the young man had dropped his wallet when he walked to his car. I returned it to him and we ended up having coffee together."

"Of course you did" Lisbon said sarcastically. Only Jane would go and have a coffee with someone who had caused him to get punched out. "Girl must have one hell of a temper."

The movie began and Jane settled into Lisbon's arms while the credits rolled. "Yes she does. Her brother Calvin seems afraid of her. I got an odd vibe off both of them. I think there's a story there."

"Naturally. I expect you'll look into them at some point" Lisbon mumbled distractedly, already being drawn into the movie. If she had paid attention, she would have noticed Jane's coy reaction when she mention him investigating Cal and his sister. She should have known better.


	4. Another Believer

Whew! Had just enough time today to get writing before the Easter long weekend. To everyone gathering with family this weekend, Happy Easter!

The Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 4

Another Believer

Jane and Lisbon spent a pleasant two hours in front of the TV, engrossed in a thriller, and worked their way through a chilled bottle of wine. When the film ended it was still relatively early in the evening. Unwrapping themselves from each other's arms, they stood and stretched their stiff limbs. Lisbon was just about to head to the kitchen with the empty wine glasses when Jane swept her up into his arms and silently walked towards the stairs, caveman style.

Grinning from ear to ear, Lisbon felt she had to put up at least a token struggle, but as she had promised him that morning that they would spend time tonight enjoying each other, she couldn't really protest too strenuously. For his part, Jane was enjoying playing the strong man. God he had missed this...this goofy, sexy, silly part of life. The fact that Teresa played along made his heart swell ever larger with love each day. Soon his heart would be so full of love he feared it would break his ribs.

By the time Jane had reached the bedroom he feigned staggering under Lisbon's weight.

"We have to lay of those pastries from Marie's" he grumbled as he tossed her onto the bed.

"Speak for yourself tubby" she teased, knowing full well her weight had not changed for years, while Jane had suffered for years from an unhealthy lifestyle and a near monastic isolation in his shabby motel room, living on God knows what. Sporadic meals intersected his days, dominated by his determination to reach his goal to kill Red John. His weight had fallen dangerously low by the time he ran off to serve his island penance. His current weight was just about perfect, but she had to needle him anyway. Jane assumed a look of horror and turned to check himself out in the full length mirror. As soon as he did, Lisbon leapt off the bed and ran into the bathroom.

"That's not fair!" complained Jane, seeing his chance to pounce on his lovely girlfriend evaporate for the moment. Seizing another opportunity, he just divested himself of all clothing and crept under the sheets, waiting for her inevitable return. Lisbon brushed her teeth vigorously, applied a bit of cologne and dropped her clothes into the hamper. When she joined Jane under the sheets, she was ready for some serious cuddling. As the stress of their day melted away in warm skin to skin caresses, little else entered their minds. This, right now, was perfect.

Teresa loved Patrick like she had never loved anyone else. Jane had known love, once, but not like this. Angela had been his first love, their time together bathed in rebellion and the exuberance of youth, with a shared desire to run away and begin life anew away from the constraints of carney traditions. With Teresa, time had mellowed them both. Both had battle scars and great sadness in their lives, but with it came the wisdom to embrace this life with both hands and love fiercely. They made love slowly, falling asleep in each other's arms even before the sun had gone down. At around 1 am, Patrick was awake again, and restless. Teresa slept soundly and he didn't want to wake her, so he slipped out of bed and pulled on some clean boxers. Padding downstairs he put the kettle on for tea and then pulled the laptop open and considered what to do to kill some time. His mind immediately returned to the mysterious Hoekstra siblings.

He desperately wanted to know every detail of the car accident in Holland. Were the elder Hoekstra's unfamiliar with traffic circles or the route? Did the car malfunction and lead to a crash? Was it a rental or a car they owned and kept in Europe? Who checked the car for mechanical issues after the accident? If it was a rental, who rented it? Was it delivered to them at their hotel or did they manage to go and pick it up themselves? A feeling of unease was not going to convince anyone in Europe to dig through old reports to answer his seemingly odd and ridiculous questions. As a private person, he would get no answers. As an employee of the FBI, perhaps the clout of his badge would rattle loose some answers. Sighing deeply, he realized he could go no further without convincing Lisbon of his suspicions about the odd deaths. Lisbon would then have to convince Cho and Abbott to go along with opening an investigation based solely on Jane's intuition. It was a big ask…

The blue glow of the laptop screen illuminated Jane's face as he sipped his tea. A quick Google search found the newspaper notification of the accident in the 'De Telegraaf' newspaper. Jane clicked on the 'translate' tab and was able to follow the story, scrambled English notwithstanding. The article focussed mainly on the tragedy of Dutch-American tourists dying in an accident on their way to the airport, and how lucky it was that their two grandchildren were not in the car at the time. The name of an investigating officer, Theo de Wijk, was mentioned. That was where Jane would start if he was allowed to dig deeper, on an official level. Perhaps it would all turn out to be an accident after all. At that point Jane had to decide whether to just let the whole thing drop. Clicking off the laptop he sat back to finish his tea. Fifteen minutes later he was curled up next to Teresa again, fighting the urge to dissect the few sparse bits of information that bounced around his overactive brain. Eventually sleep won out over his imagination and he dozed peacefully in Lisbon's arms.

The coffee was hot and breakfast laid out for Lisbon by the time she came downstairs roughly drying her hair with a towel in the morning. She drifted sleepily over to Jane and pecked his lips while he stirred his tea.

"Morning sleepyhead" he mumbled over her lips. "Sleep well?"

"Mmmm...after that workout last night, I barely moved. You?" she replied, already guessing the answer. Jane rarely got through the entire night without getting up at least once.

"I slept… had to get up once though...busy thoughts…" he said vaguely. Teresa buttered some toast and settled down across from him at the table.

"Anything important keeping you awake?"

Jane debated telling her about his crazy theory. She would need convincing if he was going to pursue this further with Abbott. Putting down his teacup he decided to just bite the bullet and give it a go.

"How about four mysterious deaths? Quite possibly parricide" he deadpanned, gauging her reaction to his bombshell.

"Parricide? That's...isn't that…"

"Killing your parents or another close relative."

Lisbon dropped her toast and sat bolt upright. "Jane. What the hell are you talking about? Whose parents were killed? Wait...which four people are you talking about? Abbott didn't tell me anything about a new murder case!" she said indignantly.

Jane wiped his mouth with his napkin and leaned back. Now he had her full attention.

"Remember I told you last night that I wasn't able to get into the museum to see the exhibit because two people had a fight at the top of the steps?"

"Yes, of course. The woman hit you. Jane, what's this about?" Lisbon asked, getting alarmed.

"Ok, long story short...Calvin Hoekstra and I had a drink together and I found out that both his grandparents and his parents died exactly 6 months apart. Very strange."

Lisbon relaxed her shoulders and slumped back in her seat. This was another dumb Jane trick and she had bought into it. When would she learn?

"Jane, come on...I may be sleepy but this isn't exactly electrifying news here. Older people die, Jane, they pass on. So do other people. Why is this a story at all? And why do you care?"

"Would you find it odd that an otherwise youthful, healthy pair of senior business couple die in a car crash on their way to Schiphol Airport in Holland, but their two grandchildren are miraculously absent from the car on that exact trip?"

"No, I do not find it odd."

Undeterred, Jane continued. "Then, only six months later, a healthy middle-aged couple die together in a house fire, cause never to be determined, leaving everything to their two adult children."

"Jane, people die in fires. What is this leading to?"

"The two people who died together in Holland were Herman and Miriam Hoekstra, the two people who died, together, in the house fire, were Klaas and Henny Hoekstra. The grandchildren of Herman and Miriam were in Holland when the accident occurred, Calvin and Adrianna Hoekstra. The couple who died in the house fire, Klaas and Henny…"

"Were their parents…" Lisbon cut him off.

"Yes" Jane said assertively. "Adrianna and Calvin went from being ordinary University students, to the new owners of a multi-million dollar import operation. Fortuitous, don't you think?"

Lisbon pursed her lips and wanted to point out to Jane that coincidences like this happened every day. Bad things happened to good people all the time, and some folks got more than their fair share of tragedy piled upon tragedy. But…

This was Jane, with a bad feeling. Lisbon had long ago stopped questioning his ability to pick up on things invisible to mere mortals. Through the years, at the CBI and then at the FBI, she had had to convince other law enforcement agents to respect his ideas, investigate his suspicions on almost whisper-thin evidence. It always panned out, just as he insisted it would. Jane watched Lisbon as this internal dialogue played out across her face. When she raised her eyes to meet his, he knew he had her on his side.

"It's odd, isn't it?" he repeated, softer this time.

"Dammit Jane!"

"We need to speak to Abbott, today. Find out everything we can about Cal and Adrianna. She's a loose cannon, ready to explode at any moment. Calvin is afraid of her" Jane began rapidly, happy to have Lisbon on his side.

"Ok ok...hold on. We need to think this through Jane. What can we take to Abbott to make him want to stick his neck out on very thin suppositions. Just because Adrianna is a bitch to her brother doesn't make her a killer, maybe it only makes him a wimp."

Already on his feet and buzzing with excitement, Jane brushed off her comment and placed a large kiss on Lisbon's forehead. He was already planning his next move and couldn't wait to get the day started.

"Finished? Jane asked as he took her plate of crumbs over to the sink.

"I am now…" Lisbon mumbled, getting up to brush her hair and get ready.

Jane bustled around the small kitchen while his thoughts ran ahead of him. Lisbon was on his side, now he just had to win over Abbott and he could dig into unravelling the secrets of the Hoekstra family.


	5. Bittersweet Candy

Sorry I haven't responded to the most recent reviews but I have read all of them. Thank you! I will try to write back very soon. Time for the next chapter.

The Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 5

Bittersweet Candy

(Hoekstra Importing Head Office)

Adrianna Hoekstra sat at the boardroom table at Hoekstra Importing in downtown Austin. Rapping her fingers against the tabletop in annoyance, she wondered where her wayward brother was. They had planned to meet here to discuss the way the business was being run, and now he was late, again. She loved him with all her heart, but unless he could buckle down and help her run the company properly, she was unsure how she could continue with him as her partner at the helm of this booming business. Her temper was her liability, she knew it. She would let issues fester and brew inside her until she just lost control of herself and lashed out at people no matter where she was or if they even deserved it. She remembered with shame her outbursts at her now deceased parents and her brother, who currently bore the brunt of her anger. Her parents were gone now, and she could never make up for the anguish she had caused her loved ones. Never. A light tap on the door disturbed her maudlin thoughts and she saw the pinched face of her Tante (aunt) Miriam, her Dad's younger sister.

Miriam had been hired by her own parents to work in the office of Hoekstra Importing when she was just a junior in high school, on weekends and after school. When the business became very successful, she stayed on and became the office manager, making life easier for her parents as they often travelled to the Netherlands to buy product and inspect candy factories. She had hoped to go to University when she graduated from high school, but her mother and father wouldn't hear of it. Her place was here at the office, helping to run the family business. That was years ago when she was young. Now, she was single, middle aged and bitter, but a great asset to the company. The family had depended on Tante Miriam to keep the office running when Adrianna's grandparents died in that car crash. When her parents died in the house fire, Adrianna knew that Tante Miriam would keep the company going while Adrianna and Cal handled funeral arrangements and took time to grieve. In short, Tante Miriam was indispensable, but a grouch.

"Adri, your brother just called, he's running late and will be here in 15 minutes" Miriam spat out, pleased to see how that news affected her niece. These two kids were such spoiled babies. She'd sort them out, train them, make them into proper adults! Adri stood up and followed Tante Miriam out of the boardroom to make better use of her time. Let Cal be late...then she'd sit him down and give him a dose of reality!

Hoekstra Importing primarily dealt with importing traditional Dutch candy. Some Dutch souvenirs were brought in as well, the token wooden shoes and Delft pottery, which appealed to homesick Dutch immigrants. Tea towels, linens, Deli meats and cheeses, those were big sellers as well, but by far, the largest demand was for fresh Drop. Drop, or real Dutch licorice, was in great demand, not just by those Americans of Dutch descent, but by anyone who had been introduced to these memorable candies, so different and markedly better than the sugary licorice sold in most North American stores. Drop could be bitter and salty, or sweet and chewy, hard or soft. In Holland the average person eats 4 pounds of drop per year. It is sold in every conceivable shape and style, in a variety of colours and textures. If you liked it, you loved it. If you hated it, especially the double salted variety, there was no inducing anyone to try it again. Fortunately for the Hoekstra family, the demand for fresh drop grew year by year. Shopping forays to their suppliers in the Netherlands happened twice a year and by the time they were teenagers, Cal and Adrianna accompanied either their grandparents or their parents on these buying trips. Tante Miriam could be counted on to run the business while the family was away in Europe. She was their rock and completely dependable. Sometimes, in the past, she had accompanied her brother Klaas and his wife Henny on the trips, but more often than not, she stayed behind in Austin.

Heading back to her office Adrianna fumed at Cal's absence and resolved to offer to buy him out of his partnership if he was truly unhappy working at the family business. It was an idea that had been brewing in Adri's mind for some time, but more and more she realized it was the right thing to do, if Cal would agree to it.

(Hoekstra House)

Calvin stood in his spare room and watched his snakes, mesmerized. He had started to collect them when he was 10 years old but all of his original snakes had died in the house fire that killed his parents. Much to his mother's horror, his dad had allowed him to keep them as long as he was fully responsible for their care and feeding. Now, they were a kind of link to his father's memory. All of the snakes Cal kept were harmless, non-poisonous, beautiful and fascinating and Cal found them to be a great stress reliever. His Tante Miriam was under the impression that most of them were of the deadly, poisonous variety. He had told her this for years, to keep her out of his room and out of his way. She was terrified of his snakes, so he had a guaranteed private space in the Hoekstra house which Adrianna and he shared with their Aunt. Tante Miriam never dared to go through the doorway when she needed him to come out of his room. The ruse always made him laugh and he delighted in watching her squirm when he reached into a vivarium and pulled out a 3 foot snake. He had even gone so far as to put coloured liquid in a variety of lidded pots in a cupboard, telling Tante Miriam that it was snake venom. He supposed he could let her in on his lie now that he was all grown up, but seeing her anxious face when she stopped at the edge of his doorway was too good to give up. Cal never tired of watching the snakes undulating bodies as they slithered up and across the intricate web of tree branches and rocks he had carefully laid out in their large vivariums. These glass fronted cages were individually outfitted with everything each type of snake would find appealing, and Cal took great pains to keep his animals safe and healthy. Adrianna hated snakes so she also never went into the room where they were kept. The maid also stayed away, so it was the one place where Cal felt completely safe and at peace. As he reached for a cloth to clean the front of one vivarium, Cal caught sight of the time on his watch and realized he was late, again, and would catch hell from his sister. Dammit, he had told Tante Miriam to call and remind him to get to the meeting on time! Cursing her under his breath he didn't want to face the fact that it was not up to his Aunt to keep him on schedule. He was an adult, he should have been at work on time without prompting. He slammed the door of the snake room and ran out of the house, apologies already forming in his mind. If Adrianna didn't take his head off for missing the meeting it would be a miracle.

(FBI Office)

The elevator slid open and a wave FBI agents and support staff flowed out to begin their day. Jane and Lisbon emerged last and quickly headed to the bullpen to see what was on the agenda for the day. Abbott had not called a general meeting to announce a new investigation so far, so perhaps this was the time to speak to him about chasing down Jane's theory that something was rotten in the Hoekstra family. Before heading into Abbott's office, Lisbon made a coffee and Jane brewed himself a cup of tea in the small staff kitchen.

"Cheer up Lisbon, if this goes pear shaped it will all be on me, not you!" Jane cajoled his worried lover.

"Are you sure you want to bring this to Dennis' attention? Really, what do we have to convince him that a crime..."

"Two crimes!" Jane interjected.

"OK, that two crimes were committed?"

Jane kept pace with Lisbon as she headed back to her desk, stalling for time.

"I feel it. And you know that when I get this feeling, I'm always right."

Lisbon's head shot up and she squinted at Jane's overwhelming certitude.

"Ok, I'm 87% sure I'm right. The fact that we have no solid proof right at this moment is merely a small speed bump in the road leading us to the perpetrator of two double murders" he said enthusiastically. "I tell you what, I'll go to Abbott by myself, I'll leave you out of it, so that the fallout will be contained to just me."

He turned and headed towards Abbott's office around the corner before Lisbon could say another thing. He got halfway there when he felt Lisbon's hand grab his arm.

"Wait, stop."

"Lisbon, I've got this..."

"Jane. I'll come with you" Lisbon said with limited conviction in her voice. "I might as well get some crap on me as well. Two of us arguing for an investigation might go a bit better for you. So, I'm in" she smiled weakly.

"You won't regret this!" Jane beamed, as he grabbed her hand and strolled around the corner towards the large office at the end of the hall. Lisbon went along, but was not entirely sure why she was allowing herself to be caught up in another one of Jane's crazy schemes.

Just before they knocked on the door, Jane dropped Lisbon's hand and straightened his jacket. Two knocks later, they were admitted to their boss's office.

"What's up?" Dennis asked, putting aside his coffee mug and leaning back in his chair. Whenever Jane and Lisbon showed up like this, it meant something unusual was about to happen. A small smile crept up into the corner of Abbott's mouth. 'Bring it on..' he thought.

"Morning Dennis!" Jane began. Lisbon gave her boss a smile and let Jane do all the talking.

"Jane, Lisbon. What can I do for you?"

Jumping right into it, Jane began his explanation. "Dennis, I met a young man yesterday and one thing led to another."

"I bet…" Dennis interjected cautiously.

"I came away convinced that something terrible had happened in his family. When I got back to the office, I did a bit of digging on my own with young Wylie's assistance yesterday afternoon, and as it turns out, I believe that four murders have been committed and that no one is even looking into them."

Jane sat back, satisfied that he had succinctly laid out his concerns. Dennis leaned forward on his elbows and gazed at Jane, then Lisbon. Silence.

Lisbon squirmed a bit at his glare but maintained her steady eye contact.

"Sir...Jane has a feeling…"she began.

Abbott let out a long sigh and turned his attention to Jane.

"You've got a feeling. About two possible murders…"

"Four murders. Two sets. Grandparents first, then the son and his wife. I believe someone in the family did it" Jane clarified.

"Two sets huh? And no one bothered to look into these suspicious deaths?" Abbott drawled out slowly, skeptically.

"Sir, there were some investigations done at the time, but it was concluded that both incidents were just tragic accidents" Lisbon spoke up. Dennis eyed her with chagrin. This was going to be a mess, he just knew it.

"So let me get this straight. The events were investigated and found to be accidental deaths, but you, Jane, believe murder was committed."

"Yes Dennis, parricide."

"Parricide. Uh huh… and this is based on what exactly?"

Lisbon felt sheepish. "Well... Sir, he has a…" she began.

"A feeling, yes you said that" Abbott reiterated. Jane was vibrating with suppressed energy, as bouncy as a small boy waiting to run outside to play. He was blithely dismissive of Abbott's less than enthusiastic reception of this news.

"I've got a lot of questions Dennis and if you would let me make some calls as a representative of the FBI, we could start to get some answers" Jane proposed briskly.

Dennis sat back and looked at his two most valuable team members. Lisbon was as solid as a rock, dependable and experienced. Jane was neither, but was a brilliant observer of human nature, and as such, irreplaceable in this organization. Lisbon appeared to be supporting Jane but was obviously still not convinced he was onto something worth pursuing. Jane, on the other hand, was totally committed to his theory and would either work with Abbott's blessing or just go behind his back and launch his own, off-book investigation anyway. The idea of that possibility gave Dennis a pain between his eyes. Sighing deeply, he folded his hands on his desk and made a decision.

"You want me to authorize an investigation into these two 'incidents'. You would like me to authorize the use of FBI personnel and equipment to conduct this investigation. Correct?" he said, staring at Jane.

"Got it in one."

"Jane!" hissed Lisbon. Geez, why kick the bull when it's calm? Abbott ignored Jane's flippant answer. Turning to Lisbon, he continued.

"I am not naive enough to believe Jane will drop the matter if I veto an investigation. So, I will allow both of you to do some digging into the deaths. If another case comes up, that will take priority over your case." 

"Yes Sir!" Lisbon agreed. Jane sat back, grinning like he had just won a trip to Disney.

"Let Wylie know that he is authorized to assist you in your investigation. Use whatever FBI facilities you feel are necessary to get to the bottom of this." 

"Yes Sir, thank you for this" said Lisbon respectfully.

"Dennis, you won't be sorry!" Jane said, standing up and reaching out his hand to Lisbon.

"Make sure I'm not" Dennis growled, watching both of his best agents as they left his office. After they shut his door, he sat back and reached for his coffee, and a headache pill. God only knew what trouble they would get into in the next 24 hours…


	6. So We Meet Again

I am so happy you are enjoying this story. We need many more of them from all of you wonderful writers out there! Rainy spring days have kept me indoors so I have several new chapters written. Here we go again.

The Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 6

So We Meet Again

Tante Miriam was at her desk when Cal rushed through the heavy front door at Hoekstra Importing. Seeing the anxiety on his face she decided to rub it in a bit.

"She's not happy with you Calvin. Late again!"

"You promised you'd remind me Tante!" he called over his shoulder as he jogged down the long hallway leading to the CEO's office.

Tante Miriam just shook her head. She couldn't babysit Calvin forever. He had to figure these things out for himself. Cal slowed down and took a moment to collect himself before he stepped into the cluttered office occupied by his older sister Adrianna.

"Adri, sorry I missed our meeting. I was running late…" he said as he stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

Adrianna steepled her fingers and just stared at her younger brother as he tried to regain some self-respect as he sat opposite to her.

"What was it this time? Lost a mouse you were going to feed to your favourite snake? Couldn't find your left shoe? Or was your shirt still in the dryer?" she said with derision.

Cal turned pink at the mention of his snakes. Damn Adrianna and her ability to make him feel small and insignificant. She made him feel like a ten year old again.

"None of the above. Tante Miriam knew about the meeting and said she would call me, which she didn't" he said by way of explanation.

"Stop blaming Miriam for your screw ups. Without her this place would go to hell in a week" Adri admonished him. She was so tired of him blaming everything on their Aunt. Miriam may not have been the friendliest relative in the world but they needed her, desperately, now that their parents were gone.

Cal slunk down lower in the chair and bit his lip. Best not pursue that line of discussion.

"So what was the meeting about anyway? I thought you didn't need me today" Cal said, trying to move on.

Adrianna leaned forward and folded her hands across the keyboard on her desk. She loved Cal. He was sweet and soft and so much kinder than she ever had been. The death of their parents had hit him very hard. It had taken him much longer to get back to work after their funerals than she could have foreseen, but he had come back and seemed to want to make the business thrive. But...he was unfocused and listless. Time to face some harsh truths.

"Cal, I can't go on like this anymore."

"Like what 'Dri?"

"Like this...with me being the mean boss and being angry at you all the time. With you not being dependable and respectful of the job. How can we both run this business if I can't be sure you'll turn up on time, or if you'll even make an appearance when we're supposed to meet with our suppliers? Cal, it looks bad when you don't behave like a serious businessman."

Cal blushed in shame. Adrianna was right of course, about everything. But in his own defense, oftentimes he didn't know a meeting was about to happen until the very last minute. Their office was not really being efficiently run, no matter what Adrianna thought. If only Adrianna could see Miriam the way Cal did.

"Cal, I have to ask. Do you want me to set you free?"

"Free? Like how?"

"Free... as in I buy out your shares in the company and you go off with your money and do whatever you want with your life. Leave the import business and do what you want. I can do that if you like. I can do that even if you don't like it…" she added ominously.

Calvin felt like he had been gut punched. Was she actually threatening him? "You'd push me out even if I wanted to stay and work with you?" he asked incredulously. "'Dri, how could you?"

Adrianna stood up and walked around the desk until she was standing over her younger brother.

"I don't want to Calvin, not really. But if you don't smarten up, I may not have a choice anymore. Give it some thought and get back to me. We need to run this company the way Mum and Dad would have wanted" she said, then walked out, leaving Cal reeling at the possibility of being thrown out via a hostile takeover. God that girl was cold!

(FBI)

Jane almost sprinted to the bullpen from Abbott's office and corralled Jason Wylie. There were so many things to look into, but where to begin first? Two crimes had taken place, of that Jane was sure. Why not begin with the first tragedy?

"Wylie, do we have a contact overseas that we can use to look into a traffic accident that seems suspicious?"

"Are you referring to the one in Holland we read about yesterday?" Wylie asked.

"That one. We know that the investigating officer's name was Theo de Wijk, and we know exactly where the accident happened. Can we send a list of questions to him or one of our counterparts in The Netherlands?"

Jason swivelled around in his chair and started to key in questions. Going through Interpol was going too high up the policing food chain. They wouldn't get the time of day from them, not for a seemingly sad but ordinary car accident. Jason leaned over his keyboard and read the data coming up on his screen.

"If you give me your list of questions, I can forward them to either Theo de Wijk, as he is still with the police force in Amsterdam, now as a Captain, or we can use a branch office of the FBI overseas. It's your call."

Jane tapped his bottom lip in thought and decided to use the locals first. Going over their heads might cause hard feelings and they might need the Amsterdam police on their side before this was over.

"I'll write a list of questions down for you and if you could forward them to Captain de Wijk that would be great. There's no guarantee he'll be in the office now, due to the time difference. If he is, then maybe we'll hear from him soon. If he's out of the office, maybe he can read our email and get back to me sometime after work. Thanks Wylie - I'll get busy with that list" Jane said.

Sitting at a desk close to Lisbon he was soon deep in thought, writing down everything that he felt needed to be discovered. Five minutes later he had given the list to Wylie and then he grabbed his coat and gently guided Lisbon out of her chair and pushed her towards the elevator.

"Where are we going?" she asked, confused.

"We're going shopping for candy" Jane said mysteriously.

As the doors to the elevator slid shut, Lisbon turned to Jane. "Candy shopping? Why?"

"Because my dear Teresa, that is the heart of the matter. Candy, and the importation thereof" Jane grinned. "Plus, I love droppie."

The ride downstairs to the car park was taken up with an in-depth explanation of the history of Dutch licorice and the various types to be enjoyed. Jane had become acquainted with it during his carny days when a married Dutch couple had a magic show with their touring group. Whenever they could find a town with a store that sold real Dutch drop, they bought pounds of it, hoping to make it last, but they inevitably ended up eating it all too quickly. They had introduced young Patrick to it and he had quickly developed a taste for it. Now he realized it had been years since he had tasted drop. Time to remedy that situation.

Humming to himself Jane got to the FBI issued SUV before Lisbon could commandeer the driver's seat.

"Jane, shove over. I'm driving!" she barked.

"Lisbon, after all these years haven't I proven that I can be trusted with an FBI vehicle?"

"Yes you have. Shove over anyway."

"Philistine!" Jane mumbled with a smile. It wasn't worth arguing over, even if would give him great pleasure to yank Lisbon's chain about his driving skills. She was perfectly right in worrying about his driving actually. He loved speed. Best save his penchant for pushing the speed limit until they were out of the city limits. Jane stepped down out of the vehicle with an injured look on his face as Lisbon quickly stepped up and took her place behind the wheel. He had not lost his flare for the dramatic in all of their years together. Seeing she was unmoved by his theatrics, Jane sprinted around the large black SUV and just managed to get buckled in before she took off in a cloud of dust.

"Where to?" she asked, having won the driving contest but having no idea where Jane intended to find his candy.

"Head into the city and when we get to the Capitol building I'll guide you in. We're going directly to the source of all candy goodness - Hoekstra Importing."

Lisbon smirked when she heard the name of the company. Of course that's where Jane would choose to go first, straight to the epicentre of his curiosity. Twenty minutes later he was guiding her through some side streets towards an industrial basin and finally pointed out the low-slung office and warehouse building. Several cars were parked out front and Lisbon found a spot reserved for guests at the main office.

Turning to Jane, Lisbon was unsure how he would proceed.

"What's the plan?"

Jane squinted through the window of the SUV and paused, thinking rapidly.

"Jane?"

"Not sure actually. I just want to get a feel for the place, for the family if we have an opportunity to meet them. Cal's sister Adrianna was in a hurry to get away yesterday when she socked me in the jaw. That could be our opening, if we see her. If not, we can at least see if they have a factory store where we can pick up some drop. Either way it won't be a wasted trip. Shall we?" he indicated, opening his door.

"Lead the way" muttered Lisbon. She had never tasted Dutch candy, so this would be interesting.

The large reception room doors opened into a tastefully decorated waiting area, where a primly dressed middle-aged woman sat behind a desk. Eyeing the handsome blonde man and petite dark haired lady by his side with skepticism, Tante Miriam checked her day calendar. Finding no appointments listed for the morning, she surmised these people most likely didn't belong. As the man approached her desk, Miriam couldn't take her eyes off him, captivated by his smile, even at her age.

"Hello!" Jane beamed at Tante Miriam. Miriam opened her mouth to speak but Jane cut her off. "I must say, I'm very excited to have found Hoekstra Importing. I had all but given up hope of finding fresh drop in Austin."

Turning to Lisbon, Jane enthused further. "You know just about all the drop sold in grocery stores here in Texas is old and dried out by the time it hits the shelves. This should be very good drop."

"It is, isn't it?" Jane asked, turning back to face Tante Miriam, who was taken by this very handsome man focussing his full attention on her.

"Um..it is what?" she managed to croak out.

"It is very good drop. The best, I hear. Or am I misinformed?" he asked sincerely, looking like a negative answer would ruin his day.

Miriam busied her hands on her lap and leaned forward, drawn in by his question. "Oh it is the best, I guarantee Sir. We pride ourselves in being the premier supplier of the best Dutch candy on this side of the ocean."

"Well if you say so, it must be true!" Jane gushed, patting Miriam's hand. The pink flush on her cheeks assured Jane his charm offensive was working. Lisbon suppressed an eye roll but appreciated Jane's skill with the woman.

"I was wondering if we might purchase some drop and perhaps some other Dutch items from your outlet store, if you have one. I neglected to ask Calvin about it when we had coffee together yesterday" Jane casually mentioned, gauging the woman's reaction to him dropping Cal's name.

"You know Calvin Hoekstra, my nephew?" Miriam asked, flustered anew now.

"Yes I do. He's a fine young man. Is he in, or perhaps Adrianna?" Jane pushed. 'So this woman was also a Hoekstra…'Jane had just learned.

Miriam looked from Jane to Lisbon and back to Jane. "We know this is short notice, but if Adrianna is in, we would like to say hello while we're here" Lisbon said. "Or Cal, whichever…"

Miriam decided these people were friends of Adrianna and Calvin, and should most likely be treated well. She stood up and took a step towards the hallway.

"I'll just check and see who's available to come out and join you, if you don't mind waiting" she said kindly, totally under Jane's spell.

"Would you? We'd appreciate it!" Jane replied.

As Miriam disappeared down the hall, Jane turned to Lisbon and smiled as he then stepped behind the desk to peruse Miriam's work space.

"I don't know how you do that" Lisbon smiled, watching her beautiful man nimbly pick through the flotsam on the desk.

"Manners Lisbon. Manners and attention. It's like a golden ticket when carefully deployed against the enemy."

"Is she the enemy?"

Looking up, Jane pulled a face. "Too soon to tell. Give me time."

Picking up the daytimer Jane saw that a meeting had been scheduled first thing in the morning for Adrianna and Cal, in the boardroom. 'Remind Cal' had been written next to the meeting note, but was scratched out. An on-screen calendar displayed upcoming meetings and trips to the Netherlands for Adrianna and Calvin. Jane took the mouse and scrolled back through previous calendars while Lisbon kept watch on the hall in case the woman came back. Two or three trips in the past year had been arranged, with a hotel listed in Amsterdam for Cal and Adrianna. Various other meeting notes were waiting to be transcribed from bullet points into an actual report. Boring stuff. Jane memorized the information that the screens revealed then scrolled back to the original calendar. The desk held the usual office paraphernalia, alongside Miriam's personal belongings: an old keyring with little wooden shoes dangling on it with 'Amsterdam" and a date stamped on it from a souvenir shop, a bowl full of drop, which Jane decided wisely not to sample, brochures for hotels in and around Amsterdam and rental car flyers for the old and new year. The usual paperwork associated with the day to day running of a small office lay in piles as well. When Lisbon signalled the receptionist's appearance at the end of the hall, Jane hastily returned everything to its original place on the desk.

Stepping back to the other side of the desk, Jane rocked gently on his heels, eager to see who showed up.

Miriam entered the reception room and was followed closely by Adrianna.

"Hello?" Adrianna said, extending her hand cautiously. Her Aunt had said a friend was waiting for her out front, but who was this man, and this woman with him?

"Adrianna, nice to see you again!" Jane said, thrusting out his hand to shake hers. Adrianna took his hand and shook it noncommittally, not sure what was going on.

"I'm sorry, but, do I know you?" she asked politely. Miriam, who couldn't take her eyes off Jane, was surprised at Adri's response to this handsome man.

"I'd hoped you would remember me. Yesterday, on the steps of the museum...the strong right hook to my jaw? I certainly remember you" Jane smiled broadly.

Adrianna's hand flew up to her mouth in horror. Oh God it was that innocent man! How the hell did he find her? Was he going to sue her for personal injuries? Was this a shakedown? A rush of thoughts raced through her mind. Before she could ask another question, Cal sauntered through the room from another doorway and stopped in his tracks when he spied Patrick Jane standing talking to his sister.

"Patrick?" he ventured. "What are you doing here? How'd you find this place?"

Adrianna turned to Cal and put two and two together. "You two know each other?"

"We sure do" Jane said kindly, shaking Cal's proffered hand. "Sorry, let me introduce Teresa Lisbon" he said, stepping aside so that Teresa could shake hands with Calvin and Adrianna. That done, there ensued an awkward moment of silence, until Lisbon spoke up.

"Patrick has assured me that this is the place to get the best drop in all of Texas" she smiled.

At this reprieve, Adrianna resumed the role of company CEO and was grateful the punch-out was not mentioned again by either Jane or his lady friend. Perhaps this wouldn't turn out to be a lawsuit after all.

"Mr. Jane is correct. We pride ourselves on being the supplier of the freshest product direct from the Netherlands."

"We'd be pleased to take you on a tour of our facilities if that would be of interest to you" offered Cal, happy to smooth things over between Jane and Adrianna now that they were face to face.

"We'd like that, wouldn't we Teresa?" said Jane, taking Teresa's hand in his. Miriam sank back into her seat, her part in this reunion complete. As the foursome walked down the hallway, she leaned over in her chair to watch Mr. Jane until he vanished from sight. Damn that was one fine man.

Cal and Lisbon led the way making small talk as Adrianna followed, walking beside Jane. He stayed silent so as to force her to speak first. He noted her discomfort, evidenced by her nervous hand wringing. Body language spoke volumes.

"Mr. Jane, please allow me to apologize for hitting you yesterday. I can assure you that I don't normally go around striking total strangers."

"Understood. So you only hit people you know" he said evenly, wanting to elicit a response.

"Oh no, of course not! It's just that.."

"My face got between your fist and Calvin's chin, I get it" Jane said seriously, staring at Adrianna.

Turning a bright shade of red, Adrianna was thrown off guard and didn't know what to say, except the obvious.

"I'm so sorry Sir."

Jane stopped walking and told Lisbon to go on with Calvin. Once they were alone, Jane turned to Adrianna and appraised her. Young, ambitious, very smart, scared at all of her new responsibilities so soon out of University, overwhelmed, worried, short tempered, afraid of failing and letting her family's legacy slip away from her. In short, she carried too much on slim shoulders.

"Apology accepted. I know you didn't mean to hit me." Relief flooded over Adri's face. "But you did mean to hit Cal, why, I can't imagine. He seems to be a very nice guy, if not a bit afraid of you. What's that about?"

Adrianna was taken aback by Jane's brash inquiry. 'The nerve of this guy!' thought Adrianna. Her chin shot out in indignation. Who was this guy to make these judgements of her relationship with her brother, whom he barely knew.

"That's really none of your business Mr. Jane. Now shall we get caught up to Calvin and Miss Lisbon?"

Jane stayed still, unwilling to move on just yet.

"Adrianna, your brother and I had a nice conversation yesterday over coffee. He seemed very sorry about the incident on the museum steps, to his credit."

Jane watched Adrianna for a reaction, but she was wound pretty tightly and gave nothing away. He continued. "Calvin told me about your grandparents dying in that car accident in Holland. He also told me both of your parents died in a house fire six months later." Ahhh...that got a reaction!

"That wasn't right for him to discuss with a stranger. Really Mr. Jane, stay out of our business!"

Walking away in a huff Adrianna dismissed Jane as if he no longer mattered. But inside, she was quaking with trepidation. What was going on?

"Why did they have to die?" Jane called out after her. The young woman froze on the spot. Clenching her hands in rage, she spun around and stalked back to Jane.

"How dare you say that? How dare you intimate that they had to die. Who the hell are you anyway? I'm going to call security and have you thrown out." As she turned to go, Jane shut her down.

"The FBI is investigating their deaths Adrianna. Herman and Miriam Hoekstra, Klaas and Henny Hoekstra. Six months apart. Why?"

Adrianna's shoulders slumped in sadness. Their deaths came rushing back to her and overwhelmed her. She felt responsible for four deaths. No one knew, not even Calvin, but she knew. She could have saved them.

Jane walked over to Adrianna and took her hand. Tears streamed down her face and instead of a cocky young woman he saw a broken child who missed her parents. Mourned their loss and more.

"Adrianna, we need you and Calvin to come to the FBI office to talk about how they died."

"I didn't… we didn't… it was an accident… an accident no one could have prevented…" she babbled, but the words were meaningless at this point. Calvin appeared at the end of the hall with Lisbon beside him, a large bag of candy in her hand. What had happened so quickly while they were away?

"'Dri? Adrianna, what's wrong?" he asked as he ran over to console his sister. "What did you do to her!" he barked at Jane.

"I didn't harm her Cal. But you two need to talk, soon. We'll be expecting both of you today at FBI headquarters Miss Hoekstra."

While Jane was explaining to Cal what had happened, Teresa took out her business cards and gave one to Cal and one to Adrianna.

"We'll be expecting you" she reminded them as she and Jane left the building. Apparently Tante Miriam had missed the whole encounter, but gave Jane a warm farewell on his way out. She resumed her paperwork none the wiser.


	7. Facing the Past

Another rainy day so I got busy writing another chapter. Since this one is ready to go, might as well put it up. It isn't particularly long but will lead into a much longer chapter next time. Thanks for the new followers and the kind reviews.

The Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 7

Facing the Past

Jane and Lisbon drove back to the FBI office in silence, except for the constant dipping of Jane's hand into the bag of droppies. The flavour was even better than he remembered and once his initial need to gobble as many as possible was satiated, he offered the bag to Lisbon.

"Which ones are the best?" she asked innocently, peering into the bag of mysterious looking candy.

"All of them" Jane pronounced, his teeth temporarily coated in black goo. Lisbon reached for a tiny diamond shaped piece of licorice and Jane patted her hand to drop it back into the bag.

"Not that one...not yet" he warned her. "Too salty...double salted…" he said in lip smacking shorthand. "You're just a grasshopper, not ready for the big time."

Lisbon rolled her eyes and grabbed another piece of candy. "Thanks Obi Wan. Ok...how about this one?" Lisbon asked, holding up a Coke bottle shaped brown candy.

"Excellent choice. Enjoy" Jane agreed. Lisbon popped it into her mouth with some concern but a moment later the look on her face told Jane she had been converted over to the Dutch side.

"These are delicious!" she mumbled, stuffing two more into her mouth.

"Told you" Jane said with satisfaction as he threw back two big puffy yellow and pink marshmallow confections.

"Hey, what were those you just ate? Those aren't licorice!" Lisbon questioned him. Digging around in the bag she found some and made short work of them as well.

"Not all candy is licorice, but most of the stuff in the bag is real drop, real licorice. Glad you like it."

Silence ensued for a few more minutes until Jane took the bag away from Lisbon and tossed it into the back seat.

"Hey...I wasn't finished with that yet!" protested Lisbon, eyeing the treats just out of reach.

"First lesson of eating droppie...don't make yourself sick on them. Save room for more later" Jane warned her.

"Hmph!" came Lisbon's childish response.

Jane settled down in his passenger seat and gazed out of his side window, deep in thought. Lisbon stole quick glances at him and waited for him to begin the conversation about their awkward meeting with the Hoekstra siblings.

A constant finger tap tap tap against the armrest signalled Jane's frustration with the encounter. Without looking at Lisbon he began.

"They'll show up...and soon" he said. "They won't be able to stay away".

"Let's hope so. If this all turns out to be nothing more than what it appears to be we'll look like fools Jane."

Patrick turned towards Lisbon. "We aren't fools and this is something. We just need time to put all the pieces together. By the time we get back Wylie may have some information for us from Captain de Wijk. We'll go from there" he said, then turned back to staring out of the window.

(Hoekstra Importing)

Miriam sat at her desk daydreaming. There wasn't much going on today other than the visit paid to Cal and Adri by that handsome man Mr. Jane and his girlfriend. What was her name again? Oh yes, Teresa Lisbon. Pretty thing. Apparently that would the be highlight of an otherwise boring day, not counting Adrianna's temper fit when Cal showed up late, yet again. Miriam spent her time musing about all of these trifling things when she heard Adrianna and Cal arguing quietly at the end of the hall. Arms waving and beet red in the face, Adri was very upset. Did that attractive man upset her? Probably not...must have been Cal again. Miriam stood up and watched the muffled argument going on between brother and sister and clucked her tongue in annoyance. This generation was so slow to mature and become adults, compared to her generation.

Klaas and Miriam had been much more trustworthy and mature at this age she believed. Thinking of Klaas gave her a stab of regret in her heart. He had been such a good brother, even if he was Pappa's favourite. That was to be expected she decided. Her parent's generation expected more from their sons and less from their daughters, no matter how intelligent the girl might actually be. Even though it sometimes hurt her to see Klaas as her father's favourite, her mother more than made up for it with her all-encompassing love for Miriam. Sighing deeply at the mistakes each generation makes raising their children, she stood in the reception area straightening some magazines when Cal and Adrianna strode through the doorway.

"We'll be out for a little while Tante Miriam" Adrianna said as she pulled open the door. "Please take messages while we're gone."

"Bye Aunt Miriam" Cal called over his shoulder as he kept pace with his sister. The door slammed shut and Miriam was left to wonder what on earth had transpired in the last 20 minutes. Something was definitely up…

With very little to do, Miriam left her station in the reception room and sauntered down the hallway to make herself a fresh coffee. If the phone rang she could pick it up in Adri's office. When she got to the end of the hall, just outside the lunchroom, Miriam saw a small rectangular business card lying on the floor just where Adri and Cal had been arguing. Wondering who would toss it away, she reached for it to place back on Adri's desk. Seeing the photo and wording on the card made Miriam's throat constrict in shock.

"Agent Teresa Lisbon

FBI Headquarters,

Austin, Texas"

Miriam felt like the card was burning a hole in her palm. Was that little woman an FBI agent? And if she was, could Patrick Jane be an Agent too? Mind racing, Miriam couldn't understand what would bring them here, to see her nephew and niece, unless they were in fact friends and just wanted droppie and a tour. Shaking her head at her panicked reaction, Miriam realized that of course, even Agents have private lives. And they like candy…Still, her heart raced in her chest.

Miriam pocketed the card and walked to the lunchroom, coffee and the FBI on her mind. Whatever was going on she was sure Cal would fill her in later in the day. She could always get what she wanted from soft young Cal. What an odd morning it had been. FBI agents, right here in her office!

(FBI Headquarters)

By the time Jane and Lisbon got back to the bullpen it was bustling with activity. A new case had come in but did not require their attention. Wylie was standing by the copier when Jane and Lisbon emerged from the elevator and when he saw them, he dropped what he was doing and hustled over to them.

"Wylie."

"Jane, Lisbon...we heard back from Captain de Wijk. He's still at work and replied to your emailed questions. I put them on your desk Lisbon."

"Thanks Jason."

Lisbon and Jane sat on the sofa in the late morning sun and read through the list of questions Jane had prepared. When they got to the bottom of it, Jane tossed it aside in frustration.

"It's not what I had hoped for."

"Which was what exactly?"

"I wanted to know if the car was owned by the Hoekstra's or if it was a rental, which it was. I needed to know who rented the car and had it sent over to the hotel the day they were going to fly home from Schiphol Airport."

"So now we know who rented it. How is this disappointing news?"

"Miriam Hoekstra herself rented the car for the return trip to the airport. She often rented the cars while Herman attended to other business affairs. I was hoping the rental agreement would indicate another party was involved with handling the car the last day they were in Amsterdam."

"Like maybe Calvin or Adrianna?"

Jane turned towards Lisbon. "Yes. But they weren't ever anywhere near the rental depot and used public transportation to get to the city centre to go shopping before their trip, then they went directly to the airport."

"The accident report said the car didn't show obvious signs of tampering with the brakes or brake lines, or the steering mechanism. The crash was so severe little of the engine or the brakes were left for examination" said Lisbon, her hopes dashed that forensics would reveal if the car had been rendered unsafe by an unknown person or persons.

"Herman was driving down a major highway at speed and didn't manage to negotiate the roundabout. Instead of making the curve the car drove straight ahead and crashed into a 6 foot tall retaining wall. There were no signs that he had applied the brakes, there were no skid marks on the road. Herman died from trauma caused when the steering wheel crushed his sternum and his heart was ruptured. He died almost instantly" Jane said thoughtfully.

"And Miriam?"

Jane gazed down at the notes and read again how she died. "Miriam was thrown out of the front window when it shattered and died from blunt force trauma to the brain when she slammed into the wall. She also died instantly."

Lisbon was silent for several minutes as the scene played out in her mind's eye. It must have been an horrifically frightening last few moments for both of the elder Hoekstra's before they died.

"Jane, we have to consider the possibility that it was just driver error that caused the crash, nothing more nefarious than that" Lisbon suggested.

Jane sat up and smiled tightly at his lovely girlfriend. "You might be right. We should know soon enough."

Standing up he stepped away from the sofa and headed towards the elevators, where Calvin and Adrianna had just emerged, looking terrified. Lisbon grabbed the report and laid it on her desk as she joined Jane.

"Thank you for coming so soon. Much appreciated" Lisbon said.

"You're the FBI! Of course we had to come" said Adrianna, trying to look in control but failing miserably. The wobble in her voice betrayed frayed nerves.

"This way" Jane said simply and held out his arm, indicating the direction to go towards a glass enclosed interrogation room.

"Calvin, why don't you go with Agent Lisbon, and Adrianna, you and I need to be in here" Jane said, indicating the first room they came to. While Cal watched Adrianna enter the small room and get seated, Jane shut the door and turned his back on the anxious young man.

"This way Cal" Lisbon said softly. Calvin followed her to the next room and found himself in a place he never dreamed of seeing, an FBI interrogation room.


	8. A Ton of Guilt

I have to admit your reviews are very interesting. Good guesses as to who killed the family. But the mystery continues. Here is the longer chapter I promised before the weekend.

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 8

A Ton of Guilt

Adrianna sat rigidly in her chair, her hands gripping the armrests so firmly her fingers were turning white. Jane assumed her jaws were aching due to being clenched so tightly together. He had to get her to relax a bit or this would get them nowhere.

"You must have dropped everything to get over here so soon after we met" he began conversationally. Adrianna just glared at him, not sure if he required an answer.

"It's OK, I won't bite. This is just a fact finding session. You and your brother are not under arrest nor are you likely to be today…"

Adrianna relaxed visibly.

"Unless you in fact killed your parents and grandparents" Jane finished. Immediately Adrianna's defenses shot up again, along with her tense shoulders. Jane was just playing with her, testing her out to see how she would react to his prodding and insinuations. Would she fly into a rage?

"How could you think such a terrible thing Mr. Jane? They were my mother and father, my Oma and my Opa. I loved them and miss them every day." Her anger was realistic, as was her indignation. 'Good for her', thought Jane.

"I have to think a great many things until I find out what really happened two and a half years ago in Amsterdam. By all appearances you've led a charmed life growing up with the Hoekstra money, regular trips to Europe, an almost guaranteed career in the family business...must have been pretty great for a teenager" Jane said, hoping to raise her hackles.

Adrianna slumped back against her chair. "Yes. It was. Great I mean. My Oma and Opa were wonderful, kind, energetic people and I loved being around them. They ran a business successful enough that we never had any money worries, not like a lot of my friends. But we were taught early in life that we had to work hard for everything we had. Just because our grandparents were successful didn't automatically guarantee we would be. Trips to Europe were wonderful. After the business day was over, Oma and Opa picked us up from the hotel and we would go out and explore Amsterdam, the countryside, museums and outdoor markets...it was so wonderful" she said wistfully, momentarily living several years back in time, seeing those sunny days flicker like a film playing in her mind.

"Tell me about the day your grandparents died. Why didn't you go with them to the airport in their car?" Jane continued.

That question struck a nerve. She'd already been through this with the police in Amsterdam after the accident. Adrianna put her head down and played with her fingers, seeing the last morning with her grandparents as if it had happened today. Such an ugly scene.

"Adrianna...what happened?"

"I already told the police."

"I'm not the police. Tell me."

"I...we, Calvin and I...we were so mad. We were stupid and young and mad at Oma and Opa. They only wanted the best for us but we threw it in their faces. It was so awful...what we said...what we did…" she sniffed, wiping her face with her hands.

Jane reached for a tissue and handed it over to her and waited until she could speak again.

"What did you do Adrianna, you and Calvin?"

Adrianna stared off into space, incapacitated with emotion and memories. She knew this day would come again, should come. There was always a price to pay when you were so evil.

"Adrianna?"

"We killed them. We killed them!" she blurted out, dissolving in tears again. Jane sat back, stunned at her admission. What was going on? What had they done?

"Go on. What happened that last morning at the hotel?" he said calmly, trying to keep her talking, studying her for lies.

Adrianna wiped her eyes and sighed deeply. "I have felt so horrible for so long now, carrying around all this guilt. I just want it all to go away...it's like an anchor...you know?" she asked Jane, beseeching him to give her solace.

"Guilt is a very heavy load to carry, year after year. Eventually it stops you in your tracks, drags you down. I do know how you feel, believe me" he said kindly, softly, knowingly. "Tell me what happened. Share your load."

Adrianna sat up a bit straighter and dropped her shoulders. She gazed off through the glass walls at the busy bullpen and wished she could just melt away into busywork, without a care in the world. But that was not to be.

"The last morning we were in Amsterdam with Oma and Opa, we had planned to go with them to Schiphol Airport. We had agreed to that from the beginning of the trip. But that morning, Cal and I were exhausted and hungover, totally trashed. We were old enough to drink in Amsterdam but totally unprepared for the European bar scene. We had snuck out of our rooms the night before, totally against the rules set out by our parents and our grandparents. Just for some last minute fun, you know?"

"Yes, I remember being that age. Go on."

"We took a cab into the city. We found a group of young people at a bar who wanted to party with us and we stayed out all night. If our friends had not poured us into a taxi and sent us back to our hotel, we might not have ever made it back safely."

"Ok. How did this affect your grandparents?"

Blowing out a sigh, Adrianna's face showed exactly how it had gone. "When Oma and Opa came to get us for breakfast the next morning, we were so hungover we could barely stand, let alone eat. We made the mistake of opening our door and they came into our room. You have to understand that they had promised our parents that we would be well taken care of and that nothing like that would happen. But there we were, totally trashed, drunk, and high. Opa and Oma were so disappointed in us. They yelled at us for what must have been 20 minutes until we yelled back that we didn't want to go back to the airport with them. I told them they were boring old people, no fun, ancient, stupid and dull." Adrianna's voice hitched and she took a long shuddering breath as the scene came back to her with awful clarity.

"We told them to get the hell out and go home by themselves. We told them we would go into the city without them hovering over us like usual. Then we'd catch our flight without being babysat by those two old people." Adrianna put her hands over her face and dissolved in tears again. "They were so disappointed in us. Shocked. You could just see it in their faces. Like we were total strangers to them. Then they did what we told them to do. They walked away and shut the door. We never saw them again." Adrianna finished in a flat, defeated tone.

Jane gave her a tissue and waited for her to compose herself. That speech must have been brewing in her mind for a very long time.

"I said all of those horrible things to the two people I loved more than anything! I yelled at them for my own mistakes and sent them away! And then they died! They died because of me. Because Cal and I were so horrible to them they were really upset and crashed their car into a wall! And I'll never be able to make it up to them...never."

Adrianna felt empty, hollow. Her sobs slowed down to a few large gasps for breath as she wiped her smeared mascara across her cheeks. Looking up at Jane ruefully, she saw herself for the spoiled brat she had been.

"So you see, we killed them...it was us" she finished in a raspy whisper, raising her head to look Jane in the eye.

Jane felt sympathetic to her anguish, and could only imagine the heavy burden she had been carrying around in silence for two and a half years. He was convinced she was telling the truth, or else she had outwitted every possible tell that he should have been able to read. She showed no signs of deception. Jane handed her another tissue and stood up. Much as he wanted to discuss the night her parents died in the house fire, she was in no shape to carry on. That conversation could wait a day or two longer.

"Please wait here Adrianna."

Jane opened the door and called for Wylie, asking him to bring the young woman a cold glass of water.

"I'll be back soon. Thank you for talking to me."

Jane went over to the room where Lisbon was trying to get Cal to open up. So far he had stonewalled her on some of the finer details of his trip to Amsterdam with Adrianna and his grandparents.

"Mind if I join you?" Jane asked Lisbon. She nodded her head and indicated a chair beside her.

"How's Adrianna? What did she say?" Cal asked Jane.

"She's fine, just a bit teary at the moment. Let's focus on you right now" Jane said.

"Cal was telling me that he and Adrianna went to Holland whenever school allowed it and they had a good relationship with their grandparents. He also said that they decided to go into Amsterdam to shop that morning, leaving their grandparents to drive to the airport alone" Lisbon said, summing up Cal's testimony so far. It was indeed light on details.

"Is that all Cal? Are you sure?"

"Yes, of course I'm sure. Why are you even asking us about this? Why are you digging up the past? Who asked you to?" Cal said petulantly. It was his fear talking.

"You did Calvin" Jane said matter of factly. "You opened this particular can of worms yourself when we had coffee together. How else would I know?"

Cal looked like Jane had slapped him in the face. All of this was because he blabbered on about his parents and grandparents dying? What the hell else did the FBI dig into without cause?

"Cal, I've spent a lifetime studying human nature, and if there's one thing I knew yesterday when I walked away from the coffee shop, it's that you needed to talk about their deaths and that for you, it wasn't over. Not by a long shot."

Lisbon took over from Jane again and brought Calvin back to their original question.

"Tell us why you went into town without your grandparents."

Seeing that they weren't about to drop the subject, Cal shrugged and opened up a bit more.

"We went into town and bought some stuff, then we went to the Airport. We only found out about Oma and Opa later" Cal insisted.

"Uh huh. What about the partying the night before Cal? Did you go along voluntarily or did Adrianna drag you along? After all, she was the older sister, she could have left you behind" Jane suggested.

Cal studied Jane's face and knew that Adri had told him every sordid detail of their last hours in Amsterdam. He knew everything.

"She didn't drag me along" Cal began slowly. "You've got it backwards."

"Backwards how?" asked Lisbon.

Cal shifted himself in the hard chair, uncomfortable admitting to these strangers such personal information. But Adrianna had apparently opened the door and there was no closing it now. "I was the one who insisted on going into Amsterdam the night before we were supposed to fly home. I demanded to be treated like a grown up and I wanted to go out, against our parents wishes. Adrianna couldn't let me go alone so she came too…" Cal said sadly.

"Sounds like she had a great time once she relented" Jane said.

Cal stared at the floor, ashamed. If only he had backed down, listened to his sister just that one goddamned time, maybe his grandparents would still be alive.

"She did...eventually. By the time we had a few drinks and a few tokes, she was as into it as I was. We made it back to the hotel just before dawn and felt like death. Then Oma and Opa knocked on our door and everything went to hell after that."

"Adrianna told me what transpired in your hotel room" Jane said quietly.

If a hole had opened up in the floor of that small room right then, Cal would have been relieved to have fallen down into it. Lisbon looked at Jane as she wondered what he meant. With a quick nod from Jane, she let it go and knew he'd fill her in later.

"Your grandparents left the hotel without you and never made it to the airport. Adrianna feels like she killed them Cal. She believes it was her fault that they died" Jane explained to the pained young man. Cal shook his head sadly, rejecting that premise completely.

"No, she's wrong. It was me, all my fault. I demanded to go out and party, giving 'Dri very little chance to talk me out of it. She just came along to keep me safe because I'm an idiot and need babysitting. All. The. Time!" he spat out in misery. "And look what it got us. A fight with the best grandparents anyone could hope for and then they died. And we killed them. I killed them…" his voice trailed off till he was just sitting mumbling to himself. At a signal from Lisbon, Jane followed her out of the room and left Cal to think about that horrible morning.

"Whew...these two are so damaged" Lisbon began. Jane looked ahead into Adrianna's room and saw that she had finally composed herself.

"They both believe their actions created the accident and the guilt is eating them alive" Jane said sympathetically. "Been there, done that" he added quietly. Lisbon gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand.

"So, we've got exactly nothing" said Lisbon, knowing that these two siblings had not really killed their grandparents by their actions that morning, no matter how guilty they felt. Jane paced a few steps between both interrogation rooms and shook his head.

"It's not nothing Lisbon. It's a lot. I saw no deception in Adrianna when she spoke to me, so she's off the hook, at least for the deaths of her grandparents."

"And Cal? Isn't he off the hook as well?" asked Lisbon, watching the young man through the glass.

"Yes...Calvin. The jury is still out on young Calvin Hoekstra" Jane said softly. Lisbon swung her attention back to Jane.

"Cal's lying about that last morning? But they were together in that hotel room, right?" she asked incredulously.

"Maybe, maybe not. Lisbon, Adrianna and Cal were out of their minds drunk and high. One or both of them could have slipped out at any point and done damage to the car before their grandparents drove away. Picking a fight ensured that they wouldn't be in the car with them later, as originally planned."

"Why do you say that Jane?" asked Lisbon.

"Because Cal is lying to us" he said simply and walked away.


	9. Our Beds Are Burning

Thank you everyone for your very interesting reviews. I'm glad you're trying to figure out who killed the family, if in fact there were murders. Keep guessing!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 9

How Can We Sleep While Our Beds Are Burning?

"Lying? About what?" Lisbon demanded to know as she caught up to him.

Chewing on his bottom lip, Jane shook his head in indecision. "Not sure yet, but I think he knows more than he's willing to tell us at the moment. Either he's withholding something about his grandparents death, or it's something pertaining to his parents death in the fire" he surmised.

"We need to get the fire department forensic report before we question them about that" said Lisbon sensibly, "and we can't keep Cal and Adrianna here Jane. Everything they've said checks out so far, and even though they were cruel, it looks like they didn't kill anyone" Lisbon stated.

"Didn't they?" Jane wasn't ready to write them off his list of suspects, but for now, Lisbon was the voice of reason. For now, they didn't have enough reason to hold them any longer. Time to move on.

"I agree, we should let them go. We'll keep digging and see if anything new shakes loose."

Lisbon could see the conflict in Jane's eyes. He wanted to find a killer. But what if there wasn't anything more than sadness to unearth?

"Jane, we just might have to admit that there is no there, there. Maybe it's nothing more than a sad series of unfortunate accidents" Lisbon said softly. She walked with Jane to the bullpen and watched as he told a guard to let the Hoekstra siblings go. Turning back to her he flashed her a quick, disingenuous smile.

"Absolutely. You're probably right Lisbon. We should let them get back to their lives and move on." Jane strolled back to his sofa and sat down, ignoring Cal and Adrianna as they were allowed to leave.

Lisbon came back and sat next to Jane, unconvinced that he had given up without much of a fight.

"What are you planning Jane?" she nudged him.

"Who me? Nothing."

"Hello! Earth to Jane! This isn't my first case with you and there is no way in hell this is in any way over. You're just planning another way to dig up the Hoekstra family history. You don't just walk away from something like this."

Lisbon was right. She had to know what he was working on. She sat facing him, expectantly, daring him to contradict her prediction. He couldn't do that to her.

"You're right. I'm not nearly done with the Hoekstra family. This was just a first shot across the bow."

"We need to find out what happened when their parents died in the fire. Do we have any reports on that yet?" Lisbon asked sensibly.

"We have to wait for the forensic report to come in from the Austin Fire department. Wylie is working on getting that sent over as we speak, so, at the moment, I'm not planning anything more than a fresh cup of tea" Jane said evenly.

Patting his hand, Lisbon stood up and headed for her computer. "Bring me a coffee while you're in the kitchen. I want to read up on the death of the parents" she said as Jane headed for the small kitchenette, empty cup in hand.

"Yes boss" he said with a smirk.

The internet articles relating to the fire that killed Klaas and Henny Hoekstra shed very little light on the cause, only the aftermath. The couple had retired to their bedroom and at some point were overcome with smoke, dying of smoke inhalation rather than burning to death. 'Small mercy' thought Lisbon. The Fire Marshall was going to do an inspection to see if there was a mechanical defect in the heating system or the electrical system in the older home where they had lived since they got married. Furnaces were in fact necessary in Austin Texas even though it was almost always hot there. A short winter did come every year and for those few chilly weeks, a heating system was a necessity. Follow up reports in later newspapers gave only cursory mention of the inspection by the Fire Marshall, who declared that no cause could be found, and that it was a tragic accident. That seemed to be the end of it.

That didn't sit well with Lisbon, nor should it have been acceptable to the Hoekstra children or their Aunt Miriam. The smoke that killed Klaas and Henny had to have been created from some heat source, either by accident or by someone with a devious intent. The fact that two people died and no one was held accountable rankled Lisbon's sense of justice. As she scanned the ever shorter articles, a hot coffee passed under her nose.

"Thanks."

"Find anything interesting?" Jane asked, sipping his tea while perched on the corner of her desk.

"No. Nothing jumps out at me, but then the information reported in the local papers is pretty thin. We'll have to read the Forensic report once it comes in" Lisbon concluded. Wylie was just coming off the elevator when they called him over.

"I hope you have treats in that bag Jason" Jane teased him.

"As a matter of fact I do. Anyone for a bagel?" he offered, passing around the bag of fresh hot goodies.

"Thanks Jason. I was starving" murmured Lisbon between bites of an asiago cheese and sundried tomato bagel.

"Any sign of the report from the fire department regarding the Hoekstra case?" asked Jane as he chose an onion and sesame seed bagel with creamed cheese.

"Let me check" Wylie said, walking back to his desk. A message blinked in the corner of his screen. Opening it up it he found the document they had been waiting for. "Got it!"

A moment later it had been printed off and was being studied between bites of the best bagels in town.

"Death by smoke inhalation. No surprise there. Cause most likely a faulty electrical system that caused a small fire that grew undetected while the victims slept" summarized Lisbon. Looking at Jane, she studied his face for a reaction, because the report didn't sit well with her.

Jane was thinking. About dying in bed during a fire. About how one sleeps. Breathing deeply while completely relaxed. In, out...in, out.

"The report says the bodies were found curled up close together. Henny was behind Klaas with her arm thrown over his chest. Spooning…" he reiterated.

"Like lovers would do" agreed Lisbon.

"Exactly like a happy and contented husband and wife would do" Jane said, thinking about all the times he woke up with Lisbon curled around his warm body, her arm embracing his bare chest.

"Have you ever had a skunk release his spray in your backyard in the summer, when the house windows were open?" asked Jane out of left field.

Not thrown by his odd question, Lisbon answered. "Ahhh, yes! And it's gross!" she said, remembering her summers in Chicago and waking up to the gagging smell of a skunk's disgusting stench.

"Did it wake you up from a deep sleep?" continued Jane.

"For sure...it was impossible to sleep through that" said Lisbon, seeing where this was going.

"But we are to believe that Henny and Klaas slept through thick, choking smoke, and never woke up. Wouldn't they start to cough in their sleep as the room filled with smoke Lisbon? Wouldn't they sit up and wonder what was going on and then try to find a way to escape the flames?"

Nodding, Lisbon could imagine what she would do in a similar situation.

"Most victims are found in a hallway trying to run to safety when they are finally overcome by smoke. They are rarely found in their beds unless they are unable to walk away."

"Klaas and Henny were fit and able to run to safety. But they didn't. Instead it appears as if they were completely unaware that their house was burning all around them" said Jane. A nasty idea hovered in Lisbon's mind.

"Drugged?" suggested Lisbon.

"Drugged."

"Oh God...it had to have been someone very close to them" said Lisbon with anguish. Just how evil was that family?

"We need to pay a visit to Cal and Adrianna again" said Jane. "And Aunt Miriam. She is about as close as anyone else could be to all of this."

"Uh huh…"agreed Lisbon. They quickly finished off their lunch and headed back out to do battle with the Hoekstra clan. Time to get some straight answers.

(Hoekstra Importing)

Cal and Adrianna came back into the office much more quietly than when they left it only a short time ago. Tante Miriam was waiting for them with unbridled curiosity as she had had time to make some assumptions while they were out of the office.

"Did you go to the FBI just now? What for? What do they want?" she asked in a jumble of questions.

"Please Aunt Miriam, give us some space" mumbled Cal, following Adri down the hall. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with his obnoxious Aunt. Tante meant well, but she came on oh so damned strong.

"But those two people were agents, right?" she called out after them. "What do they want?"

Adrianna and Cal went into the small CEO's office and shut the door. They had driven back to the office in silence, each one of them in their own private hell after reliving that last morning, the last time they saw their Oma and Opa alive.

Miriam got up from her desk and crept down the hallway and stood just beside the heavy wooden door at the CEO's office. The transom window atop the door was open, as usual for maximum air circulation on hot days. It had been open for so long no one even noticed it anymore. Whatever was discussed inside the small office, she would hear it.

"I'm so sorry" Cal said, breaking the tense silence in the dusty room. "I never meant to dig up the past 'Dri."

Adrianna didn't have any fight left in her to yell at Calvin. It wasn't his fault. Sooner or later someone would have dug up the story again and started to talk. This was inevitable, but the only surprise is that it was the FBI that opened their particular can of worms.

"I know Cal. I know. I'm just so tired of it all. First Oma and Opa, then Mum and Dad. Why did this have to happen to us Cal? Why us?" she asked her brother, but he couldn't give her the comfort she needed. He was hurting too.

"I've felt guilty for years 'Dri. It's hard to get up and get going when you feel like you're legs are in cement. I don't know how you get as much done as you do."

Adrianna looked hard at her little brother, perhaps for the first time in a long time. Such a sweet guy, but so hurt and lost. She had sublimated her pain in work, in busy-ness, in yelling at him to make herself feel something, anything. A good punch at some object or face helped occasionally too. And here her brother was, making an overture towards peace.

"I work to keep my mind occupied. Too much time on my hands and all I see is their faces. I can't stand to see their faces Cal" she explained. "It's not that I don't feel anything...I feel too much."

Cal was beginning to see his sister in a new light. He had believed she was so tough and cold that the loss of their parents and grandparents hadn't touched her, that inheriting the business was what really held meaning for her. How could he have gotten that so wrong?

Miriam stood outside listening to them pour out their hearts to each other. What had happened to them while they were out to bring them together, finally? She had been the referee between them for years, keeping them from killing each other in their ongoing fights. This honesty with each other was something completely new!

"Do you think Mr. Jane and Miss Lisbon will question us again?" asked Cal.

"I hope not. Today was rough" admitted Adrianna. "If they question us about Mum and Dad, what do we tell them?"

Miriam's ears pricked up at the mention of questioning and the death of her brother and his wife Henny. A chill ran down her spine. She wanted the past to remain in the past. These days were much happier times and she wanted nothing to upset the family any more.

"If we have to talk about Mum and Dad, we have nothing to hide 'Dri. We didn't set the fire. No one did" said Cal.

Adrianna nodded in agreement. No, they didn't set the fire, no one did. It was just a horrible horrible accident. Looking around the small office, Calvin made a decision. He was done for the day.

"I don't feel like working the rest of the day. How about we take the rest of the afternoon off and go into the city, unwind and sit on a patio with a cool beer Sis?" said Calvin. It was the first time in two years that he had extended an olive branch of reconciliation to his stormy sister.

"Sounds good to me" she smiled shyly. Was the war between them finally ending? God, she hoped so. "Tante Miriam can keep an eye on things and then lock up later today."

Miriam shook her head in annoyance. 'Sure...of course I have to stay behind and be bored all day while you two fools go and sit in the sun drinking. Typical...' she thought to herself. When she heard Cal and Adrianna stand up and make their way towards the door, she hustled back to her desk and sat down just as they appeared in the doorway.

"Tante Miriam, Cal and I have some stuff we have to discuss. We'll be out all afternoon. Can you man the phones and lock up at the end of the afternoon?" Adrianna asked her Aunt.

"No problem. See you tomorrow" Miriam smiled tightly, her hands twisted tightly together under the desk.

Five minutes later Cal and his sister were gone. Ten minutes later, the lights were turned off and the front door was locked. Miriam was on her way home. This day had unsettled her as well, and now she had some thinking to do herself.


	10. The Inner Sanctum

Busy busy writing writing. I am several chapters ahead now and oh boy! Things are moving fast! Ahem...back to today. Time for another chapter? This one is extra long but reveals a bit more about our odd characters.

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 10

The Inner Sanctum

Jane and Lisbon pulled up at Hoekstra Importing to find only warehouse staff working out back. The office was dark, the front door locked hours before the sign indicated closing time.

"Looks like we scared them off" said Jane, peering through a dusty window to see where Miriam could be. "Even their Aunt is M.I.A."

"She must have figured out we'd be coming back to talk to her next" said Lisbon, disappointed that their trip had been for nothing. Casting her eye around the parking lot, she tried to imagine where the three Hoekstra's had gone.

"D'ya think they went home Jane? Should we drive over there?"

Jane was also disappointed, but seeing them at home might give him some tangible clues to work with. Seeing Tante Miriam on her home turf might reveal something more about her relationship with her nephew and niece.

"I don't think the three of them socialize outside of work, so I doubt they all left to go home at the same time. Why not go and find out who gets there first?"

Guiding Lisbon by the small of her back, Jane turned towards the black SUV. "Shall we?"

Lisbon checked her notes for the home address of Cal and his sister. She was surprised to see that Miriam Hoekstra was also listed as residing at that address. That must have been tense sometimes…

The low-slung Texas-style ranch bungalow was just minutes outside of the downtown core, in an old Austin neighbourhood. The house was very well maintained and sat on a decent amount of land, something hard to find nowadays in a modern city. The resale value of the property would be astronomical.

As they pulled up Lisbon spotted a small Fiat sitting in the carport. Since it was so tiny, she assumed it would belong to Miriam. No doubt Cal and Adrianna had much more flashy cars due to their age and sudden wealth. Lisbon parked down the street and walked up to the house with Jane taking in the charms of the old Texas neighbourhood.

"This is nice. A real throwback to life before the digital age jacked up all the real estate prices and condos took over" he said, as much to himself as to Lisbon.

A screen door covered the heavy Spanish style front door, and sleek deck chairs graced the long covered front porch. Lisbon wondered who would spend their time sitting out here. She couldn't imagine Adrianna and Cal sitting with their Aunt, sipping iced tea, and shooting the breeze. Maybe the chairs were just for show. Jane stabbed the doorbell and stepped back, a smile at the ready. A few moments passed before the door was yanked open and a surprised looking Miriam stood before them behind the screen.

"You again!" she blurted out before she became more guarded.

"Yes, us again. Hope we aren't a disappointment" Jane chided her.

Flustered, Miriam recovered her manners and collected herself.

"Sorry. I wasn't expecting, ahh, anyone today. I have the afternoon off work and was just about to…" she floundered to come up with a project to mention.

"Agent Teresa Lisbon, FBI. You remember Patrick Jane?" said Lisbon, flashing her badge. Jane said nothing but showed his badge as well.

Miriam was truly flustered now. Two agents, at her door… to speak to her.

"Agent Lisbon, Agent Jane, yes, I remember you."

"Just Jane. Not an agent" said Jane, although once a badge was displayed, the weak-kneed suspect always assumed Jane was an agent anyway.

"May we come in Miss Hoekstra? We have some questions we'd like to ask you" Lisbon said smoothly, seeing that they had caught Tante Miriam with her guard down.

"Oh ah..yes..of course...come in" she replied. What else do you say to the FBI when they are standing on your front porch?

Miriam backed away and held the door open for Lisbon and Jane. They stepped into a completely modernized home, gleaming with tile and ceramics, hardwood floors and a massive fireplace that most certainly was never lit. The large living room was just off the front hall and behind it lay an expansive open concept kitchen, with a back door leading to a large back yard. The kitchen windows overlooked a green lawn edged in flowering shrubs. In short, it was modern, clean and large enough for three people to inhabit without getting in each other's way. That's why they hadn't killed each other yet thought Jane.

"Please, sit down" said Miriam, indicating two leather chairs opposite a leather sofa flanking the fireplace.

"Thank you" said Jane. Miriam was a bundle of nerves but remembered her manners. "Could I get you something to drink...iced tea? Coffee? Water perhaps?"

"Tea would be wonderful, Earl Grey if you have it, thank you" said Jane, choosing the one thing Miriam had not offered.

"Nothing for me thanks" said Lisbon, well used to Jane's tactics. While Miriam was out of the room, Jane strolled around the room, taking in all of the photographs, mementos, knick knacks and personal objects. It appeared that most of the items in the room were more suited to Miriam than to two young people in their 20's. Odd. Jane was sure the house belonged to Cal and Adrianna.

A large photograph of Herman and Miriam Hoekstra dominated the fireplace mantle, with smaller photos of Klaas and Miriam as children close by. Some school photos of Adrianna and Calvin sat on side tables. Jane noted not a single photo of Henny anywhere.

A clatter of cups announced Miriam's return. After handing Jane his tea, she settled herself on the sofa with a cup of coffee and waited for one of the two Agents to begin.

"You have a lovely home here Miss Hoekstra" said Jane, peering at Miriam over the rim of his teacup.

Casting an eye around the room, Miriam smiled and nodded. "Thank you. It's very comfortable."

"But not actually yours" added Jane. Lisbon smirked. "It belongs to your nephew and niece, yes?" Jane goaded the older woman.

Miriam turned her attention back to Jane, miffed at his insinuation.

"Not mine in name, no. When my brother and his wife died, the business was inherited by Cal and Adrianna. They bought this house to replace the one that burned down, and they asked me to move in with them until they got their feet under them and got settled running the import business. When they're settled, I'll move into my own place again" she explained. "I do feel like it's my own home all the same."

"Cal and Adrianna aren't settled after two years?" asked Lisbon, intrigued by the idea that two adults their age could run a business but not manage to live alone, not yet at least.

Miriam turned to stare at Lisbon, assuming she knew nothing about kids, or human nature for that matter. 'Stupid young woman' thought Miriam. Taking pains to explain to someone clearly dim regarding the youth of today, she said "Well you know how it is nowadays, the young people are so slow to grow up and learn to be responsible adults. Good thing I'm here to help." With that she sat back, satisfied she had cleared that issue up.

"They're very lucky to have you" said Jane soothingly, smiling at Miriam. Miriam smiled back, assured that at least this handsome man understood her world view.

"Miss Hoekstra, we met with Calvin and Adrianna today to discuss the death of your parents, Herman and Miriam Hoekstra" Lisbon began.

Miriam flinched subconsciously at the mention of her parents by name. "Ok?"

"Miss Hoekstra, where were you when your parents died?"

"I was here."

"Here? Don't you mean at your parents' home?" asked Jane, indicting the living room with a wave of his hand.

"Oh no, not here. I mean, while they were gone with Adrianna and Calvin, I was here in Austin, keeping an eye on things at work for Mamma and Pappa. With Klaas of course."

"How long were your parents in Amsterdam on business that last time?"

"Oh not long. Just from Wednesday until Sunday. We expected them to come into work Monday in the afternoon after they had slept in a bit from their flight. It's a long flight for older people you know" Miriam explained to Jane and Lisbon as if they had never left North America.

"So you and Klaas would have been at work every day while they were gone?" asked Lisbon.

"Yes, of course, every working day that is. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday we had off."

"So you and your brother worked together at Hoekstra Importing for your parents? What did you both do there?" asked Jane.

Relaxing now, Miriam realized she had nothing to fear from these two people. They knew nothing of the importing business or her relationship with her family.

"Klaas and I both worked with Mamma and Pappa as they built up the business. As kids we did everything in the beginning. We helped unload the boxes of goods when they came to the loading dock, looked after inventory, labelled and priced everything. Gradually Mamma taught me how to work the switchboard and do the accounting, you know, receivables and payables. The more I learned the more it helped Mamma."

"And your brother? What were his responsibilities?" asked Jane again.

"Well, like I said, Klaas and I worked at the loading dock, handled the product, a lot of the heavy work we didn't want Mamma to do. Then Pappa started to take Klaas with him to meet customers and learn how to place orders with our suppliers in Europe. Eventually Klaas became a salesman full-time, letting Pappa stay at the office more since he was getting older."

"Did your parents take you both to Europe to meet your suppliers and go to their manufacturing facilities?" asked Lisbon, taking notes.

Miriam sat tight lipped at this question. A ghost of frustration slid across her face as she tried to find the words to give the Agent a satisfactory answer.

"Pappa took Klaas to Europe with him quite often, yes. He felt it was a man's world over there and that Klaas could talk more man to man with the dealers. Pappa said it was a dirty business, and that I was best left out of it" she said flatly.

"That must have hurt" said Jane. "Being told you weren't good enough to play with the big boys. That you should stay home with the women-folk" he needled her.

Lisbon shot Jane a warning look but he avoided her glare, his verbal dart having its intended effect.

"Yes. It hurt. I was always 'way smarter than Klaas. Got straight A's in school, never failed anything. Picked up accounting like it was the easiest thing! Buying candy! How much brains was needed for that!" she snapped before she could stop herself.

"Oh I agree completely! Running an office had so many moving parts, but buying candy was the same thing over and over again. Don't you think Lisbon?" Jane said, playing advocate for Miriam. Miriam beamed with pleasure that he again saw her point of view.

"Yes, of course. Running an office is a complicated affair. Your father must have been so grateful to have you helping him keep things running smoothly in Austin" Lisbon played along.

"Yes, well, you'd think so wouldn't you? But it was always about Klaas. He was definitely Pappa's favourite" groused Miriam.

Jane nodded sympathetically, draining his teacup.

"Excuse me, if you don't mind. Where might I find the… the bathroom? The tea has hit bottom I'm afraid" he grinned in embarrassment.

Suddenly switching gears, Miriam turned to point towards the hallway off the living room.

"No problem. It's down there, far end of the hallway past the bedrooms. You can't miss it."

Jane stood up and excused himself, then ambled down the hallway. Lisbon stood up and wandered over to the bank of kitchen windows, distracting Miriam.

"You have a huge garden here. Do you maintain it all by yourself?"

Miriam stood next to her and launched into a long diatribe about the amount of work it took keep the garden looking as good as it did. They discussed the types of shrubs that would grow and produce flowers in the heat of Austin in the summertime.

Jane strode down the hall and peeked into the first room on his left. A very masculine room lay before him, with clothes and books scattered everywhere. Cal's room. To the right of it was another small bedroom. Jane opened the door and was confronted with the unmistakable hiss of many many snakes in cages. He peered in with abundant curiosity, but had to keep going.

The next bedroom on the left was very feminine and orderly. Photos of friends and family graced a board on the wall and little stands on a dressing table held an array of attractive costume jewellery. Adrianna's room. One bedroom left to investigate, on the right. Jane opened the last door and found himself in a darker world, cluttered with old fashioned furniture and heavy drapes. He quickly stepped into the room and glanced around the walls. More photos of her parents and her brother. It was Miriam's room. Stepping up to the tall dresser, Jane spied a large wooden box. Trying the lid, it opened easily and he found himself looking at a collection of odd bits and pieces. A man's watch lay in a special compartment, along with gold cufflinks and a pinkie ring. From the aged patina on them and the old style, it was obvious they had belonged to her father.

The next compartment held a beautiful old brooch, the kind now considered retro chic, but very fashionable 40 years ago. A silk handkerchief with the initials MH sat next to a delicate ladies gold watch with a tiny face. Letters and postcards were stacked and tied with a blue ribbon. These must have been Tante Miriam's mothers' things. Another compartment held a newer silver and black watch. Turning it over, Jane read an inscription. "To my one true love, Klaas, From Henny." Jane noted that the inscription had been scratched out with something sharp and was very hard to decipher. A tie hung on a hook and tie clip and a photo of Miriam and Klaas standing together by a bicycle lay on top of the other items. Jane saw nothing to indicate Miriam had saved something from Henny. Did she hate her sister-in-law that much?

Beside the box lay a long silk scarf in a bright orange and deep pink print, with a faint scent of perfume on it. Breathing in the perfume, Jane tried to remember if he had noticed it earlier that day when he first met the entire Hoekstra clan. Next to it in another tray lay a pair of silver earrings with a tiny emblem for the City of Amsterdam on each silver drop. A matching silver bracelet also sat in the tray. Pulling a drawer in the dresser open, Jane found leather gloves and a baseball hat, typically worn by a young man. Could the scarf, hat and gloves belong to Cal and Adrianna? Finding an out of date passport for Cal answered that question. Why would Miriam have their items hidden away in her bedroom? The whole collection felt like a shrine to dead Hoekstra's. Dead. But Cal and Adrianna were alive and abundantly healthy.

Jane had to get back to the living room, but his little foray into the personal space belonging to Tante Miriam had raised more questions than he had answers for.

Lisbon and Miriam were standing at the mantle discussing the family history when Jane strode back into the room.

"Sorry for the delay. Couldn't be helped" he blushed. "Now where were we?" he asked Lisbon.

"Miss Hoekstra had said that her father favoured her brother Klaas. It must have been difficult to deal with" she said, turning towards Miriam, "to feel like a parent valued one child over another."

Miriam was about to answer when Jane interrupted.

"We can't control how others feel though can we Miriam? We can only control how we feel about ourselves."

Miriam once again felt like Jane understood her perfectly. What a wonderful man.

"Yes, exactly. I knew I could run the company all by myself if need be!"

"That must have been a comfort to your mother as your father got older. Were you close to your mother?" asked Jane, still speaking soothingly to Miriam as she got more and more comfortable with him.

Miriam's eyes shot up to the photo of her parents, but they lovingly lingered on the face of her elegant mother. She was a strong, square-jawed, still blonde haired Dutch woman even in her later years. In Dutch there was a word to describe women of her character: deftige. She was attractive, proper, high class.

"Oh yes, I loved Mamma. She always supported me and urged me to do my best. She understood how frustrated I could get, but she also told me to listen to my Pappa. He knew best. He always said to Klaas and I 'Pay attention!' He believed the way to get ahead in the world was to pay attention, learn and then do what you had learned. I must have heard Pappa say 'pay attention' a thousand times" Miriam said, glancing quickly at her father's smiling countenance in the family photo.

"It must have been hard to see the men in the family move forward while you and your mother were considered secondary to the success of the business. Even Klaas was being groomed to succeed your father eventually. Right?" asked Lisbon.

A flush of red coloured Miriam's cheeks at the insinuation that she would be left in the dust, fulfilling a minor role once her parents died and the business was passed on to she and her brother.

"Not at all. Klaas and I knew the business inside out by the time our parents died. We could carry on running all aspects of the business once they were gone. Mine was no secondary role Agent Lisbon!"

"I bet you were shocked when the will was read and you found out that Klaas and Henny had inherited the business, not you and Klaas" said Jane, aiming for the emotional jugular.

Miriam was incensed, her anger immediate.

"Are you done now? This is none of your damned business you know. Klaas and I ran the business together no matter what was written on paper. On paper Henny owned half of the business, but we all know that was a sham. It was me and Klaas, we were Hoekstra Importing!"

"We're only trying to understand how the business was being run Miss Hoekstra" said Lisbon firmly.

"I think you've interfered in our family quite enough for one day! First you drag poor Cal and Adrianna to the FBI office, no doubt scaring them to death with your questions and insinuations, then you show up here and say terrible things about my father and my brother!"

"Miss Hoekstra, if you could just…" Lisbon tried to calm the woman down.

"No, no more. All this talk and you still don't have a clue do you? Some Agents you are. Where'd you get your badges anyway, in a cereal box? You've got it all wrong!" Miriam barked angrily.

Miriam started to walk towards the front door.

"If you don't mind, I have work to do. Please leave."

"What have we got wrong Miss Hoekstra? We're trying to determine if your parents died in an accident or if there was foul play that led to their deaths. Obviously you know something we don't" said Jane, observing the quaking woman. "Please, illuminate us."

"It's staring right at you, stomme lul! (you stupid asshole)" said Miriam. "Maybe _you_ should pay attention Mr. Jane! Mamma and Pappa died, so who would benefit from their deaths? Not me! I lost my parents! Not Cal and Adrianna, they lost their grandparents and didn't inherit anything when they died. Klaas, he lost his parents too and was in Texas when they crashed their car. We Hoekstra's are an easy target to blame, and you've missed the one person who never was a Hoekstra and had everything to gain when Mamma and Pappa died…" she ranted, furious with Lisbon and Jane.

A spark of realization lit up Jane's eyes. "Henny…" said Jane, looking at Lisbon. He had to admit, she had never crossed his mind as a possible suspect.

"But why Henny?" asked Lisbon.

"She wasn't really a Hoekstra was she? She was a just a Hoekstra in name, when she married Klaas. She didn't care if her in-laws died" she explained to these two stupid agents. "She knew her life would improve financially if Mamma and Pappa were suddenly gone. But you two never even considered that did you? Instead you harass my nephew and niece and come into my house with your accusations. I'm sorry but if there was foul play, my money would be on Henny. Find out where she was while Mamma and Pappa were in Holland with Cal and Adri. Now, get out!" Miriam barked.

Jane smiled deeply at the seething woman and turned to his partner, offering his hand to Lisbon.

"We'll be on our way then. Thank you for your time Miss Hoekstra, you've been a big help."

Lisbon played along. "Yes, thank you for your time."

They were barely out of the door when it slammed harshly behind them.

"Well that was interesting" said Lisbon as she and Jane strolled back to their SUV. "You had a good time goading that woman."

"Meh, we all have our methods my dear. She wanted to believe I was on her side, and once we had established that, she let her defences down and showed her true colours" Jane explained.

"She seems to be more than a little angry with the men in her family" said Lisbon, stating the obvious. "But I can't honestly say I blame her. She's smart and hardworking. After everything she did for the company, her brother and his wife got the keys to the kingdom."

"Sadly, it happens all the time, certainly more in the past, but it isn't all that much different these days" Jane speculated. "Her hatred of Henny came through loud and clear. I wonder if Cal and Adrianna know what she really thought of their mother? If they know she suspects Henny of killing their grandparents?"

"More questions we have no answers for" admitted Lisbon. "But, more to work with now."

As they got into the SUV, Lisbon turned to Jane and waited to see how successful his little scouting venture had been.

"So, what did you find when you wandered around the bedrooms?"

"Would I take liberties like that in a stranger's house?" said Jane, acting wounded.

"You would and you always do, that's why I run interference for you so you can find whatever you're looking for. So, spill the beans, what secrets did the house reveal?"

"Et voila!" Jane said, as he drew Cal's out of date passport out of his jacket pocket.

Studying it, Lisbon wasn't impressed. "It's an old passport Jane. What good is it?"

Tucking it back into his pocket, Jane relaxed into the seat as Lisbon pulled away. "Oh it's not important at all, not in and of itself. But one has to ask, why would Miriam Hoekstra have it secreted away in a hidden drawer in her room? Wouldn't Cal just throw it away when it was no longer valid?"

Lisbon looked at Jane in confusion. Where was this going? "You'd think so, unless he didn't have a chance to…"

"Throw it away himself..exactly" answered Jane.

Smiling at Lisbon, Jane reached into the back seat and retrieved the bag of droppies. Lisbon got her hand in the bag first and pulled out a colourful assortment of soft and hard candies. Jane grinned to see her happily munching on the tasty treats. Taking a large coin shaped licorice, he chewed it thoughtfully.

"It seems our Aunt Miriam has a shrine of sorts set up in her bedroom. While the rest of the house is modern and light, her room is stuffed with old furniture more suited to her parents' generation. I suspect her furnishings were theirs originally."

"That's it, just old furniture? Pretty thin, don't you think Jane?"

Downing a pink and yellow puffy marshmallow confection, Jane nodded and continued.

"She has personal items that once belonged to her father and her mother, jewellery, hankies, like that...also items that belonged to her brother Klaas. She has his watch, which Henny had engraved with a personal message of love."

"How'd she get that if the house burned down?" asked Lisbon.

"Interesting yes? The engraving on the back of the watch had been scratched off in anger. That took effort and aggression."

"Wow, ok, she was angry at Henny. What else was in there?"

"Well certainly nothing that had belonged to Henny. The odd thing is that Miriam seems to be collecting things that belong to Adrianna and Cal as well. Things that belong to twenty-somethings, personal bits of clothing."

Gazing at Lisbon, he could see that she felt it was just as creepy as he did.

"Jane, I don't like the sound of that at all. A shrine filled with momento's of lost loved ones is one thing, but to start collecting things secretly from people who are still alive...that's not normal" Lisbon said with worry.

"My thoughts exactly. I need to get back into that house and dig around a bit longer" Jane suggested.

"Jane, you can't. We don't even have an official case let alone a search warrant! If the news got out that we broke into Miriam Hoekstra's house and searched it without legal cause, we'd both be working in the car washing bay at the FBI for six months!"

"Meh! A search warrant is just an official piece of paper Lisbon. What if Cal invites me over? Then it isn't break and enter is it?" Jane smiled, reaching for a long piece of soft black drop.

As Libson drove on with a worried look on her face, Jane got busy making some plans of his own to get back into the very odd world of Miriam Hoekstra.


	11. Sssilky Sssmooth

I'm very happy that so many of you are trying to figure out the mystery of the four deaths. Some great ideas are being mentioned. I thought I'd throw another chapter up before the weekend. I am already writing chapter 16, so much has happened, as you will find out next week. Thanks for the support. And as one guest reviewer mentioned, reviews are so important to keep writers writing! And please encourage readers to read!

The Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 11

Ssssilky Ssssmooth

Cal and Adrianna sat on a patio in downtown Austin relaxing in the sun with ice cold beers and nacho chips. Each was deep in their own thoughts, their 'date' a strange new development in their relationship. They hadn't been able to do this for years. At first their natural teen rivalry kept them harassing each other, then the death of their grandparents opened an even larger rift of guilt and sadness. The final nail in the coffin of their friendship was the death of their parents. So much had happened in just two and a half years. Cal had turned inward, seeking peace and solace in caring for his harmless snakes and joining a group of concerned citizens who went out on calls to pick up errant snakes that had wandered into the suburbs, terrorizing Moms walking their dogs on sunny afternoons. Some of those wandering snakes had ended up in his vivariums. Once in awhile an actual Coral snake or Copperhead was found too close to populated areas in the city or suburbs, and with great care Cal and his team removed them to the desert. These were venomous snakes. Their bite could do great harm, but not immediately. If bitten, the victim had about an hour to get to medical help, otherwise, the outcome could be terrible. It was an odd hobby, but a beneficial one.

Adrianna, on the other hand, had become a whirlwind of action upon the death of her parents and grandparents. Sublimating her guilt when her grandparents died, she threw herself into her studies and helping her parents at the office. She didn't understand Cal's solitude and ambivalence about Hoekstra Importing and took it to mean he wasn't cut out to be a businessman. Hence their bitter fallout with each other. This business with the FBI had had one great side effect. They were finally talking to each other again. Maybe if nothing else came of it, they would finally feel like a family again. She could even live with the idea that he wanted to keep those damned snakes, if he eventually got his own place to live.

Time to move out and get her own place...the idea was very appealing. Aunt Miriam was almost smothering them with advice and admonishments to do right by their dead parents. Two years had gone by so fast and if Cal agreed, maybe it was time to sell the house, help Miriam find another place to live, smaller and more to her conservative tastes, and finally buy their own homes.

"What'cha thinking 'Dri?" Cal asked, interrupting her thoughts.

Picking up her sweating green beer bottle, Adrianna took a long pull on the cold beer and smiled at her brother.

"Don't laugh! I was just daydreaming about selling the bungalow and moving Aunt Miriam out into her own place."

Cal smiled broadly, perhaps more brightly than she had seen for a very long time.

"I'll drink to that!" he grinned, clinking his bottle against hers. "We need to move on, it's about time."

"Mmmm, it is… How'dya think Tante Miriam will take it? Being told to move out I mean?" Adri asked cautiously.

"It's our house 'Dri. We paid for it and agreed to let Miriam move in until we felt ready to leave and buy something else. If we want to sell it, we have every right to do that. We'll take care of Miriam, the old battle axe!" he snickered.

"Yeah, she is an old battle axe but she's also been a great help since… well since we started to run the business. The least we can do is help her find another place. We can buy it outright or help her with the mortgage, whichever seems best" Adrianna suggested. "Are you OK with that?"

"Totally. I won't throw Tante Miriam out in the street. She's the only family we have left" Cal said quietly.

"OK, good, glad that's settled." The waiter brought over a large order of migas, enchiladas and more nachos with fresh dipping sauces. This would fill them up enough that they wouldn't want supper later.

"How crazy was that today, at the FBI? Did you ever in your wildest imagination ever think you'd be in an interrogation room at the FBI?" said Cal, dunking a nacho chip into avocado sauce.

"No, of course not. I fell apart completely Cal. Just remembering that morning was so sad" Adri answered. "I try not to dwell on it anymore, but Mr. Jane made it all come back again. I know that's his job but, it just seems like we'll never put it behind us."

Cal nodded silently, seeing that hotel room in his mind, his upset Oma and Opa, their disappointment in their grandkids. Taking a giant swig of beer, he tried to banish the thought once and for all.

"Well it's done now. You and I told the exact same story so I don't expect we'll see those agents again any time soon" Cal said, hopefully.

Adrianna nodded thoughtfully. She hoped so too.

(FBI)

Jane and Lisbon pulled into the parking lot and slowly ambled towards the imposing building as the sun slanted low across the expansive front steps. They had tossed ideas around concerning the deaths of the Hoekstra family members on their trip back to the office, and agreed they were both surprised when Miriam was so vocal in her disdain for Henny.

"I'm going to go after that search warrant Jane, we need to cover our asses on this one. If you go digging around and get caught, any one of the family could raise hell and shut us down" Lisbon reminded her rule-defying partner.

"OK" agreed Jane quickly, holding the elevator door open for Teresa.

"OK? Just like that now? With no sarcastic remarks about it only being paper?" she asked in concerned confusion.

"Well that goes without saying Teresa but if it makes life easier for us in the long run, by all means, apply for the warrant. There are specific things I want to find in that house…" he said as he headed for the sofa. Leaning back, he put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

Lisbon followed Jane and stood in front of the sofa waiting for him to finish his sentence. And waited. When he kept his eyes shut, she turned in a snit, heading for the kitchen. She wasn't going to beg him to tell her exactly what he wanted to find. She'd figure it out on her own and then watch the smug smile fall off his face when she mentioned it first. At least that was her game plan.

By the time she was back at her desk with a steaming mug of coffee, Jane was lying prone on the sofa, seemingly asleep. Smiling deeply at the sight of the attractive reclining figure, Lisbon turned and grinned while she typed up her list of reasons why they would need that search warrant. Jane could very well be wide awake and plotting his next step with the Hoekstra family, or he could be asleep. Unless she gave him a sharp poke she wouldn't know for certain, but for now, she had other things to accomplish. They both had their methods.

Jane lay on the sofa listening to the buzz of the office. He felt Lisbon stare at him when she came back from the kitchen but he just wanted a few minutes alone with his thoughts. He ran the interview with Adrianna through his mind and compared it to what Cal had said. They matched up, that wasn't a problem. Jane just had a feeling that there was something Cal was withholding, or lying about. Yes, that was it. Not a lie. There was something more, something disturbing he wasn't telling Jane or Lisbon. Something even Adrianna didn't know. Then there was Tante Miriam, bitter, hard working, disappointed in her father, perhaps even her beloved brother Klaas. All were men who worked side by side with her but never expected her to be as good as them. That would hurt, on a deeply emotional level, day in and day out, year after year. Did she hate men enough to kill them? Even her own father and brother? What about Henny dying? Could she hate her enough to kill her as well?

Henny. Miriam suggested that it might have served Henny's purposes to kill Klaas's parents. So did that make the house fire a tragic accident after all? If Henny killed Herman and Miriam, who killed Henny and Klaas, and why? Jane knew where Cal and Adrianna were the morning their grandparents died, but where were they the night their own parents died? Where was Miriam that night for that matter? Yes, a trip over to the Hoekstra house was definitely in order. The list of questions just grew larger the more he and Lisbon found out.

Snapping his eyes open, Jane stretched and sat up.

"Welcome back mister" smiled Lisbon as her fingers flew over her keyboard. Turning to catch Jane's eye, she hit "Send" and fired off her request for the search warrant. That done, she joined her love on the sofa and ran her hand over his knee.

"Ready to head home and grab a bite? Maybe Thai takeout for a change?"

"You want to leave so early? Why Lisbon, I do believe I have finally destroyed your out-of-control work ethic" Jane smiled, standing and helping Lisbon up from the sofa.

"No, not destroyed, just more balanced. Besides, we can't do much more today until the search warrant comes in. So, Thai?"

"Excellent choice. We can go over some ideas I have before the food arrives…" Jane began to explain to Teresa, but she cut him off.

"And then no more talk about the Hoekstra's for the rest of the night. We can catch a new movie and finally open that bottle of wine Abbott gave us at Christmas. Sound good?" she said.

"You have the best ideas my dear!" smiled Jane as he handed Lisbon her jacket and her purse.

"What do you carry in there...a grenade launcher?" he mumbled as he hefted the large bag.

"Oh hush you…" she grinned as they headed for the bank of elevators, done for the day.

"See you tomorrow!" she called out to Wylie as he came down the hall. He waved them goodbye and headed for his desk, a few more reports to complete before he could leave for the day.

(Hoekstra House)

Miriam almost threw Jane's teacup into the sink with anger once he and Lisbon had left. She stood staring out of her window studying the garden, wilting in the August heat. No matter how much you devoted your time to gardening, by the middle of August everything looked tired, faded and exhausted.

Hmph… just the way she felt most of the time! Cal and Adrianna were still out, maybe for the evening if she was lucky. Sharing this house with them was financially beneficial for Miriam but she ached for her own space, where she could furnish it with items from the warehouse storing furniture and linens she had inherited from Pappa and Mamma's estate when they died. Klaas and Henny didn't really want all that many things as their taste was more modern, and Adrianna and Cal didn't want any of those old antiques. Smiling slightly, Miriam had to admit she was fine with their rejection of her parents personal items. She wanted them all. Maybe it was time to suggest to Cal and Adrianna that she wanted to find her own apartment or condo. When this mess with the FBI was over she would have to sit her nephew and niece down and tell them they were on their own now. Time to grow up. That thought made her feel better and she gently picked up the unbroken teacup, washed it carefully and put it back into the cupboard with Mamma's other lovely china. Yes, time to leave this house and get away from these mindless young people.

Miriam walked down the hall on her way to her bedroom but when she passed the first door on the right, she slowed down and lingered. Behind the door she could hear the hisses from vivariums on the other side of the door. A chill ran up her spine. Ugh...snakes...She took a key from her pocket and turned the lock, opening the door and stepped into Cal's sanctuary. A broad smile crept across her face. She had done a great job of convincing Cal she was terrified of his snakes and that she would never, ever enter this room. How wrong he was. He should have paid attention. She wasn't even the tiniest bit afraid anymore.

Strolling around the glass cases, she stopped every now and then and studied the lazy creatures under their heat lamps. They demanded so little in return for a life of caged happiness. She lifted one lid and carefully extended her index finger to stroke the long back of a particularly pretty snake. It's soft, silky body lay patiently still as she ran her finger slowly down the length of its spine. The snake thought it would be getting a fresh mouse, so it waited for her ministrations to end. Carefully replacing the lid, Miriam made her way around the room and gazed at the rest of the snakes. None of them could harm anyone other than giving someone a fright if found in a garage or in a garden. She had paid attention all these years and had learned when Cal tried to tell Adrianna that only a few snakes were worth being afraid of, not any of his. Yes, she had learned and would use what she had learned, like she always did.

(Jane and Lisbon's House)

Jane and Lisbon pushed away the last of the Thai takeout bags and grabbed their wine glasses, heading for the living room. There was a glut of new movies on Netflix and they were determined to watch one, maybe two of them before they hit the sheets much later tonight. There was now a permanent indentation in the far end of the sofa where Jane reclined with Lisbon in his arms, spooning the length of the generous sofa, wine bottle and filled glasses on the coffee table in front of them. These simple domestic routines were like a balm for Jane's long-ago damaged soul, much as he wouldn't admit to having one, but he loved being with Lisbon, cuddled up and warm, the dangerous world held at bay out there, and simple love flourishing here, inside.

They managed to get through the first movie, and had selected another, when the yawning began, fuelled in part by several glasses of wine and the late hour. A half hour after the second movie began, Jane heard the soft hic hic hic of Lisbon's relaxed snoring, her chin bent in an awkward position on her chest. Smiling at the picture she presented, Jane clicked off the movie and carefully slid his legs off the sofa. Sitting up with his sleeping lover in his arms, he managed to stand without letting her slip from his arms and he bent to lift her up, carrying her to the stairs. A short time later she was nestled under the duvet, still dressed. Jane didn't want to risk waking her. If she awoke in the night he knew she would change into her football jersey and sleep shorts. For now, he just enjoyed seeing her sleep. Planting a soft kiss on her forehead, Jane went downstairs to clean up the remains of their supper and tidy up the wine glasses. When he was finished, he sat in his favourite armchair and gave his day serious thought.

They had learned a lot from Adrianna, Cal and Miriam. Most of it was the truth, but some of it was suspicious testimony. Jane had to admit to himself that overlooking Henny as a possible suspect was a huge mistake, but finding out what part she had to play in the tragic history of the family would be a very difficult thing to accomplish. She was dead, and Klaas was dead as well. No one could question them for corroborating stories. Almost nothing was left of their possessions after the fire torched their home. The kids had been out that night, otherwise they either could have raised an alarm, or they would have been caught in the conflagration themselves. Miriam lived in her own apartment at that time. Where had she been that night? Could she provide proof of her whereabouts? Who would benefit if Klaas and Henny died? Rubbing his hand over his face, Jane had to admit that the search warrant would certainly be welcome. A thorough search of the house currently owned by the Hoekstra siblings would go a long way towards answering some of the questions Jane had brewing in his mind. He wanted to speak to Cal, Adrianna and Miriam together, gauge their reactions to some of his questions and see how they answered in front of each other.

But not tonight. Tonight the only searching Jane wanted to do was for Lisbon's warm body in his arms while they both slept.


	12. Lost And Found

Ok, new week, new chapter. Enjoy!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 12

Lost and Found

(Hoekstra House)

Cal and Adrianna had returned home to find Miriam in her room with the light burning under the door. They had long ago learned to leave her to her own devices when she wanted privacy. That suited them anyway. Finding something to talk about with their Tante was increasingly difficult. She was definitely old school, and they wanted a more liberal lifestyle. Cal had given up the idea of bringing a girl home for the night due to Miriam's disapproval and hovering around as he tried to impress his date. Adrianna was often out late with "friends", but for all Cal knew, she might have been at a man's place for some guilt free sex. Fine with him...get it while you can 'Dri! Adrianna headed for the shower while Cal went to his room to change into his clothes for the night shift. A ragtag group of volunteers would be on call night and day to come out and pick up snakes that were scaring residents in their gardens or garages this time of the year. The snakes were almost always harmless but very intimidating, lurking in a corner of the garage or under bushes by the pool. Small children had been taught to avoid all snakes just to be sure that they didn't mess with a Copperhead, Coral snake or a Rattler. As the heat of the summer dissipated into a cooler fall, the number of calls coming into the snake removal hotline would increase as the creatures looked for warm places to curl up against the chillier days and nights. For now, Cal and his buddies were averaging only three or four calls per week. Pulling on his heavy black pants and a black shirt, he grabbed a flashlight and gloves. More of his gear was in his van. First he would meet his mates for a drink, then they would wait for calls to come in at his buddy's place. When a big snake was on the loose, it was fun to catch it and drive it out into a more hospitable location outside of the city.

Miriam could hear Cal and Adrianna come in the house, but made no effort to go out and greet them. She saw enough of them at work. She resolved to speak to them about moving out as soon as possible. The light over her tall set of drawers shone down into the box of treasures she had amassed over the years. She had a nightly ritual now, as she gazed at the lovely things her mother had once worn. She ran her finger over the brilliant stones in the brooch and sighed sadly. Poor Mamma… Next to Adri's bright orange and pink scarf she saw another item belonging to Adrianna that had been left lying carelessly in the house, a bright yellow beaded necklace. Tsk tsking to herself, Miriam wondered when Adri would learn to put her things away. She hadn't missed her pretty scarf yet, but if asked, Miriam would say she hadn't seen it. 'If it took Adrianna that long to miss her scarf, then she owned too many clothes' Miriam thought to herself with annoyance.

Opening the second drawer down in the chest, Miriam pulled out a stack of passports. The top one was hers, with stamps inside showing all of the trips she had been lucky to make with her parents in the last five years before they died. Next to it lay Klaas's passport, with far more stamps in it than hers. Annoyed yet again when she saw it, she still lovingly ran her finger over the photo of her brother in the folded passport. The next one down belonged to Henny, but Miriam didn't bother to pick it up and examine it. She had no use for Henny or her memory. The passports belonging to her parents sat next in the pile and she opened them reverently, these documents a link to them that she couldn't part with. Her father stared out at her with a solemn gaze, his face a serious, honest representation of the man she respected and loved. Her mother looked serious too, after all, you aren't allowed to smile in a passport photo anymore, but even with that restriction, she could see the humour and gentleness in her mother's eyes coming through in the small photo. "Ik hou van U*" whispered Miriam, kissing her mother's passport photo (*I love you).

Hearing the shower run, Miriam peered out of her bedroom door and saw that Adrianna's bedroom light was on, the door ajar. Cal was nowhere to be seen so he must have gone out already with his snake buddies for most of the night. Good. She pretty much had the house to herself. Adrianna would be in the bathroom for at least an hour, so Miriam slipped out of her room to turn off the coffee pot and put out the garbage. She was busy in the kitchen when Adrianna nipped out of the bathroom wrapped up in a fluffy robe. She had forgotten her favourite body lotion in her bedroom. As she walked up the hallway to her room she noticed the door to Tante Miriam's room was open, something as rare as snow in July. Miriam usually kept her door locked at all times, so Adri slowed down and stared into her Aunt's bedroom for the first time in well over a year. The gloom inside was uninviting, but she saw pieces of her grandparent's furniture sitting under the window. It brought back happy memories of the times when Adri and Cal went to visit Oma and Opa at their big house when they were little kids. And there, on a hook, she saw what looked like a tie she remembered her grandpa wearing. Forgetting herself, Adrianna was drawn into the darkened space and ran her hands over the furnishings that once had represented family and security to her as a child. She had to admit it was nice to see these things again. A wooden box caught her attention on top of the tall chest of drawers. Peering into the opened compartment she spied grandma's jewellery and grandpa's tie clip, some rings and ...her Dad's watch! How had Miriam found her father's watch? Turning it over, she saw that the engraving on the back was scratched and gouged, making the wording indecipherable. Her first reaction was anger, but it was soon replaced with a bad feeling when she spotted her own scarf, and various pieces of her jewellery, all of which she had complained to Cal that she had lost. Then she saw Cal's personal items lower down in a drawer as well. A baseball hat, his gloves...

What was going on here? What was Miriam doing with all of theses things? A stack of rectangular booklets caught her eye and she realized she was looking at a pile of passports. Opening them one by one she saw the expired bits of history that represented many many trips overseas by her family members, for work and for fun. The first passport in the pile belonged to her Tante Miriam. Why would she keep it hidden there with the memento's of her family? Adrianna quickly scanned it, seeing the trips Miriam had taken with her parents stamped in the back pages, year after year. Puzzling over the odd collection of items her Aunt was keeping hidden, Adri put the passports back where she found them and was reaching for her scarf when the bright overhead light burst forth in blinding brightness. Freezing on the spot, Adrianna turned slowly to see a furious Tante Miriam standing in the doorway.

"How dare you enter my room without permission!" screeched Miriam.

"Tante Miriam, you left the door open and I just peeked in and noticed my scarf on your chest of drawers…"

"Get out of my room you nosey bitch!" screamed the furious older woman.

Feeling indignant to be yelled at in her own house, and seeing a item which had clearly been stolen from her, Adri yelled back, her fear of her Aunt outweighed by her anger that Miriam was keeping secrets from her.

"You stole my scarf!" shouted Adrianna. "You could have given it back to me! When was that going to happen Tante Miriam? Huh? Oh yeah, I remember - NEVER!"

Miriam stepped into the room and lifted her arm to take a swipe at her disrespectful niece.

"I said get out of my room! I found that scarf and you didn't miss it, so it's mine now!" she yelled as Adri ducked to avoid being hit, then she ran past her crazy Aunt back to the safety of the bathroom. Clicking the lock shut, Adri leaned against the bathroom door panting in fright and frustration. That was it! The limit! That crazy bitch had to go! As soon as Cal came home she would sit him down and tell him they had to throw Miriam out this week, tomorrow if that was possible! Stepping back into the steaming shower, Adri couldn't hold back tears of anger and frustration, their tracks on her cheeks washed away with the spray of the shower. When would her life finally get back to normal?

Miriam stood in the middle of her bedroom in a dazed panic. How could she have been so stupid to leave her door wide open? She gazed around the room and nothing was different. Checking the wooden box, everything was just where she had left it. The other items scattered around the room were still sitting where she had left them. Adrianna was furious because she had seen her scarf on the top of the chest of drawers. That's what she had seen...nothing else, Miriam convinced herself. Grabbing the scarf, she made a quick decision and stepped out into the hallway. Adri's bedroom door was still open so Miriam entered the orderly room and draped the scarf on Adrianna's bed. Taking a small piece of notepaper, she neatly wrote an apology and placed it beside the scarf where Adri was sure to see it. Adri was a reasonable girl, and an apology would more than make up for the scene in the bedroom just a few moments ago. Smiling to herself, Miriam relaxed and entered her bedroom once again, happy to stay cloistered there until Adrianna had retired to her room for the night. Everything would blow over and be alright. It always did.

Cal and his friends had a busy night, as several calls had come in from panicked citizens. A woman had been terrified by a large lazy snake that was hidden under a pile of cardboard she was going to put out in the recycling bin. Her first reaction was to assume the worst, that she was in imminent danger of being bitten and instantly dying. She called the Snake Removal hotline and begged Cal and his friends to come out immediately and remove the snake. That took a good hour to do, as the commotion had disturbed the otherwise contented creature and he had slithered out into the yard somewhere. They couldn't leave until they had found it and captured it, with profound expressions of gratitude from the terrified homeowners. Later in the night another call came in from the owner of a small pizzeria on the edge of the city. A snake had found shelter in the space behind the larger refrigerator in the back room. It had probably slithered in under the garage door and found its' way to the cozy dark spot inside. It took 3 guys a half hour to corral the snake and bag him for removal to a more natural environment outside of town. A third call came in at around 2am, and Cal set off alone to wrangle what was surely another non-venomous snake which had innocently set up housekeeping in the wrong spot. When Cal arrived at the loading dock of a cattle feed company, a nervous crowd of men were gathered at the far end of the parking lot. After ascertaining the little bit of information the men could give Cal, 'it's huge!; it's a rattler for sure!; almost killed me!', Cal sauntered over to the loading dock, pole and hook in hand, a canvas sack stuck into his large back pocket.

The snake would seek out a secluded spot away from bright lights and human contact. It didn't want to be around people any more than they wanted to be around it. Experience had taught Cal to assume the worst, expect danger, prepare for a snake that would want to bite to preserve itself. After checking a variety of hiding places, Cal finally spotted the end quarter of a long slender snake sticking out from under a pile of empty grain sacks. Perfect hiding place. He maneuvered himself into the most advantageous position and gradually started to lift the sacks off the pile, until just one was left to cover the cautious snake. He'd have to move fast when he finally tried to catch the bugger or else it would be gone before Cal could blink. Cal gradually pushed the sack off the snake, bit by by, starting at the tail end, and as more of the snake was revealed, Cal realized he was dealing with a Coral snake, a venomous snake that had a dangerous bite. An injection of venom wouldn't kill its intended victim outright, but if bitten, Cal would need medical intervention within an hour.

As beads of sweat formed on his forehead, Cal moved slowly, using every bit of training he had learned over the last 10 years. He took the canvas sack out of his back pocket and opened it up as much as possible. As the last of the grain sack was quickly pulled off the Coral snake Cal clamped the snake hook around the top third of the snake and with a gloved hand grabbed its tail. As he controlled the snake's head he rapidly transferred the snake to the opening of the bag and gently lowered the snake head first into it, finally releasing his hold on the tail as he clamped the bag shut. A tie was wrapped around the wriggling bag and Cal finally straightened up, wiping the sweat off his face with his glove. Good thing those guys had called. A Coral snake was not to be messed with.

A hearty slap on the back and many handshakes later, Cal was on his way home. It was late. He didn't want to drive all the way out into the desert to deposit the Coral snake in a more hospitable environment, so Cal drove home with it. He had an empty vivarium in his snake room, and could let the big guy relax there for a day or two until Cal and his buddies could drive it far out of town. Then he looked forward to a shower, a beer and bed, not necessarily in that order.

When Adrianna had finally emerged from the bathroom, the house was quiet. The light in Tante Miriam's bedroom was out and Cal wasn't home yet. She tiptoed to her room and closed the door behind her. Turning to reach for her pajamas, she spied the pink and orange scarf on her bed, with a hastily scrawled note next to it. Harrumphing in disgust, Adri tossed the scarf in the laundry basket and read the note.

Dear Adrianna,

Sorry for being angry with you tonight. I didn't mean to upset you but you know how much I like my privacy. I found your scarf only recently and was planning on giving it back to you tomorrow. I know we can put this misunderstanding behind us. See you in the morning.

Goodnight,

Tante Miriam

Adrianna screwed the paper up in her hand and threw it at her wastepaper basket. Like hell Tante Miriam had only just found the scarf! It had been missing for weeks. And what about the yellow necklace she saw in there as well? Miriam didn't mention giving that back to her! The bitch couldn't just write a little note and think everything would be forgiven! Adri flopped down on her bed and roughly pulled a brush through her thick blonde hair as she thought over the ugly scene in Miriam's bedroom tonight. With each brush stroke, Adri was more convinced than ever that as soon as they could manage it, her Aunt would be out of this house forever!


	13. Cold Steel

Thanks everyone for your support today, especially my friend Rosepeony. We writers must stick together. I am excited to put up another new chapter, so without delay, here it is!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 13

Cold Steel

Jane had stayed up late, deep in thought. He tried to imagine how Henny could have engineered the deaths of her in-laws. If she had managed to kill them, it would have involved a trip to Europe without arousing the suspicion of her husband Klaas, unless he was in on it and wanted his parents dead. Did he know what his parents had written in their wills? Was he sure the business would be handed down to he and Henny, or he and Miriam? Was he impatient to become the President of Hoekstra Importing and make his own stamp on the company? Without Klaas and Henny to speak to, so much of what happened could remain a mystery unless Jane and Lisbon landed a solid piece of irrefutable evidence that pointed a finger in one of many possible directions. Finally giving in to his fatigue, Jane slipped into bed and wrapped his arms around the slender body of Teresa. Her fragrant hair was draped across her pillow and he leaned into it, breathing deeply, grateful for every night like this to come, in what he hoped would be a very long and beautiful life together. Putting murderous relatives out of his mind, he was soon sleeping soundly.

The blaring of the alarm the next morning intruded on his very pleasant and raunchy dreams, seemingly only minutes after his head hit the pillow, but Jane had no one to blame for his late night but himself. Reaching for Teresa as his sleep hangover required some hands-on physical therapy, he was more than disappointed to find her spot in the bed cold and empty. Teresa was already in the shower, so with a groan of regret, Jane lugged himself out of the warm bed without getting the early morning attention that he so desperately desired. He stumbled downstairs to start the coffee and put on the kettle for tea. By the time Teresa emerged from the shower, her coffee was waiting for her on the bathroom counter and Jane was standing naked, ready to take his turn in the steamy water. Wrapping herself up in a large towel, Teresa leaned against her man and kissed him soundly. His desire for her immediately was rekindled, but she had a busy day ahead of her and knew she had to disappoint him, but just for now. As he returned the kiss with gusto she reached around and gave his bum a sharp smack. Before he could retaliate she ran laughing out of the bathroom and left him to ease his sore backside into the hot water. She knew she'd pay for it later with a lusty romp in the sack, but hey, that was kind of the whole point!

When Jane came downstairs Teresa was dressed for work and munching on toast. Eyeing her blushing cheeks, Jane knew they would have some fun later today when they finished work.

"You could be arrested for assault and battery" Jane muttered, kissing her neck as she read the paper.

"I think the judge would need to see evidence of said assault. Care to turn around for a photo?" she giggled.

"My lawyer will have to advise me on the wisdom of sharing photographic evidence of my injury before we come to trial" Jane said with a modicum of surprise. "That's quite the hand you've got!"

Putting down the paper, Lisbon smiled up at Jane. "I can kiss it better tonight if you like" she smirked.

"Promise?"

"Promise. But first...we have to pick up the search warrant and pay the Hoekstra's a visit" she said sensibly.

"Ugh…" groaned Jane, sorry to have reality intrude on their fantasy life. "Killjoy!"

"Sorry. But Abbott wants us to give him a report later today to show that we're actually making some progress. If not, he'll give us another assignment instead."

"Well we don't want that" Jane groused as he puttered around the kitchen getting a quick breakfast ready for himself. "I have some questions for Cal and Adrianna, their Aunt too. Maybe after we've searched the house we can drive over to Hoekstra Importing and question them there, one at a time."

"Sounds good. What do you want to ask them?" Teresa asked as she stood up to put her plate in the sink. Jane filled her in on his latest theories, things he had noticed and some assumptions he had made. As soon as they could search the house he would have a better idea of whether his assumptions were just wishful thinking or something worth pursuing.

15 minutes later they were on their way to the FBI office, hopeful that the search warrant would be waiting for them when they arrived.

(Hoekstra House)

Miriam had risen early and nipped into the bathroom before Cal or Adrianna were up. Cal would most likely sleep until mid-morning since he came in so late, and Adrianna wanted to put off seeing her Aunt for as long as possible today. The fact that they would have to face each other at work couldn't be helped, but at least there they would be separated by a hallway and an office. Both could hide out in their own areas for most of the day. Tonight, they would suggest Miriam find another place to live, at least, that's what Adrianna had decided after the fiasco last night. She couldn't wait to discuss it with Cal, tell him about the bizarre things she had found in her Tante's bedroom. She felt sure that Cal would be as disgusted as she was with the woman's weird behaviour.

Sounds of movement in the kitchen let Adrianna know Miriam was washed and dressed and maybe would leave for work soon. Adrianna got up and went into the bathroom to get ready for the day. She took her time and hoped to have the kitchen to herself to drink her coffee in peace by the time she was ready for work. She dressed slowly and arranged her makeup, professional as always. Finally ready, she sauntered into the kitchen to discover that her Aunt was still at home, perched on a tall kitchen stool, nursing a large cup of coffee. Adrianna stopped and stared at her, willing her to get up and leave by the back door.

"Morning Adrianna" smiled Miriam. She seemed nonplussed by their confrontation last night.

Adri bit back a harsh remark and poured herself a coffee. Damn that woman! Acting as if nothing had happened, as if she didn't have a collection of things in her bedroom that didn't belong to her, as if…

"I said good morning" insisted Tante Miriam, but her niece ignored her, the rude bitch. Adri just wanted to take her coffee and go, avoid talking to her Aunt altogether, and leave things as they were until tonight when she would have Cal on her side. Miriam decided to let the snub pass, for now.

"Did you read my note liefste (sweetie)?" Miriam asked. "Is everything alright now?"

Adrianna slammed her coffee cup on the counter, spilling half of the hot liquid. She turned to face her smiling Aunt and felt the bile coming up in her throat.

"Liefste? You call me liefste after pulling that stunt Tante Miriam? How could you steal from me? Why would you steal from me?" she spat out.

Miriam shook her head and looked shocked at the accusation. "Steal? I didn't steal from you! What did I steal?"

"The scarf Miriam! The goddamned scarf!" yelled Adrianna, incensed now.

"Do not take the Lord's name in vain Adrianna!" warned her Aunt. "What would your father think if he could hear you?" said Miriam, shocked at her niece's language.

"You leave Daddy out of this you bitch! You know perfectly well you stole my scarf. Oh and by the way, you also stole my yellow necklace, my silver bracelet and my Amsterdam stud earrings. I saw all of them in your room Tante Miriam! Try to explain that!"

Miriam put down her coffee and stood up, her fake cheery demeanor completely gone.

"You had no right to go snooping in my room Adrianna, no right! That is my private room and you desecrated it!"

Adrianna felt like she had been struck. "Desecrated it? What the hell are you talking about? I was just looking at the family things you have in there, things that maybe Cal and I would have wanted to have if you hadn't taken them and hidden them!"

Miriam took several quick steps over to Adrianna and pushed her against the counter, hemming her in.

"What else did you see in my bedroom? Tell me!"

"Get out of my way! What are you talking about? I saw my stuff, and Cal's gloves and his hat...normal stuff. Relax! Geez!" she barked back at her Aunt.

Miriam stared into Adrianna's frightened face and knew she was lying, lying just like everyone she had ever trusted had lied to her, her whole life.

"Tell me what you saw right now!" she screamed, leaning in so close to Adri that spittle hit her in the face. Whatever her Aunt was afraid of, Adrianna now realized she was dealing with a crazy woman.

(FBI)

"Thanks Jason!" Teresa said brightly, waving the search warrant in Jane's eager face.

"Let's go. With any luck everyone has left for work and we can search the house without interference" said Jane happily.

"Not so fast. I need to run some queries through the database and wait for the results. The search warrant won't expire any time soon" said Teresa, seeing Jane's frustration.

"Hey, you said it yourself...Abbott wants progress or else we get reassigned. We need to do this now" he urged her. Mostly he was curious to find out if his pet theory was true. He was sure Cal knew more than he was saying, and he was most certainly sure creaky old Tante Miriam's bedroom would be a treasure trove of evidence, if they knew what to look for.

"Tic toc...time to go" he chided Lisbon.

"Jane, I need 45 minutes tops. You can wait that long can't you?"

Jane turned to look out of the large wall of windows and if there was one thing he knew, it was that he most certainly could not stand around waiting for some silly paper trail to be printed off while he could be searching an empty house to his heart's content. Turning back to Lisbon, he pleaded his case.

"Tell you what...I'll go on ahead to the house and you can meet me there. Then depending on what I've found, we can go over to Hoekstra Importing and talk to the family there. Or you can go straight to their office and wait for me to join you, your choice Teresa" he smiled, hoping she chose one of those options.

Lisbon appreciated his eagerness, and he had been good and waited for the search warrant, even though he could have easily broken into the house at some point and searched it illegally anyway. Plus, the house would be empty by the time he got there, so he could work fast without any interruptions. Sighing with resignation, she nodded her head.

"Yes you'll join me at the house later or yes I'll meet you at Hoekstra Importing?" asked Jane, seeing she had agreed to something.

"Yes, go to the house and I'll meet you there as soon as I can. And if the family is still there for some reason, I'll keep them busy while you do your LEGAL search" she smiled.

"Thank you my dear. You are a paragon of reason" he complimented her, snatching the search warrant out of her hands and stuffing it into his jacket pocket.

"Stay out of trouble until I get there!" Lisbon called after him as he stepped into the elevator. Jane saluted her and punched in the floor number, then disappeared.

Turning back to her desk, she was grinning to herself when Wylie spoke up.

"Jane's eager today!"

"Like a kid in a candy store.." mumbled Teresa to herself as she sat down to start typing.

(Hoekstra House)

Adrianna had to get control of the situation playing out in the kitchen. Whatever was wrong with her Aunt, she had to defuse her anger before things deteriorated further.

"Please Tante Miriam, I'm sorry for upsetting you. Really, that was rude of me to use language like that. Dad wouldn't like it - you're right" she said to placate her angry Aunt. "You know I don't want to upset you, after all you've done for Cal and me."

Miriam backed up slightly, the words of contrition like music in her ears. These kids were so entitled, so eager to heap scorn upon their elders. She had to teach them right from wrong and if it had to be done again today, here, in this kitchen, by God she'd start the lesson all over again.

"Your father was a good man young lady. He wouldn't approve of you using the Lord's name in vain. Just you remember that Adrianna!"

"Yes Tante Miriam, I know, I'm sorry. Here, let me wipe up this spilled coffee so we can sit down and have a nice chat" Adrianna suggested, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. 'Cal, please, wake up…'

Miriam backed up and went back to her chair, and sipped her cooling coffee while she watched Adrianna scurry around to wipe up the large pool of coffee spilled on the granite counter top. Pouring herself another fresh coffee, Adrianna sat down a few seats away from her Aunt and waited to see what would happen next. If she could get out of the house in the next half hour, she'd just drive away, not even bothering with work today. She couldn't stand the thought of working with her Aunt ever again. She's have to fire her, God help her…

Miriam seemed to be deep in thought as she sipped her coffee. Was her temper fit over with? Was it that short lived? Adri dared to hope so.

"I'll just finish this and be on my way" Adri said lightly, standing up and making her way to the sink with her cup, when her Aunt lifted her head and spoke again.

"I'm still waiting for an answer Adrianna. Don't think for one minute that you're going to avoid answering my questions."

Adrianna stopped at the sink and turned to face her Aunt, seeing a strange glimmer in her eyes. She wasn't going to give up...she would keep asking and asking...what did she want to hear?

"Tell me Adri. When you snooped in my room, what did you find?"

Miriam stood up and approached Adri again, clenching her coffee cup in her hand like a weapon. "Was it the jewellery? Was that what you were looking for?" she asked.

"No Tante Miriam" Adrianna said as patiently as she could. "I wasn't looking for anything. It's just that it had been so long since I saw Oma and Opa's furniture… and it brought back so many happy memories...I just had to go in and look at it again...feel it again...and then..."

"Then what? What did you do then?" Miriam put the cup down but reached over to pick up a large knife out of the stand on the kitchen counter. She gazed at it while inching closer to her niece.

Adrianna gripped the edge of the counter, suddenly acutely aware of the icy coldness of the granite against her palms in the air conditioned room.

"Umm...then I.. ah... I saw my stuff on your desktop, then Cal's stuff as well."

"Go on...tell me all of it" said Miriam, lifting the knife higher as she bore down on the shaking young woman.

'Cal! Please wake up!' thought Adrianna in desperation as she tried to ease away from the knife and the woman wielding it.

"You found your father's watch didn't you Adrianna? The one your mother gave him for their anniversary."

"Ye...yes...I did. It's been so long since I saw it, I had to pick it up and feel it in my hand…" Adri said, sure that that was a dangerous thing to say now.

"And you turned it over and read the inscription, didn't you liefste?" said Miriam, holding Adri hostage at the sink.

"Yes, I tried. But, I couldn't read it because the back was damaged. Probably in the fire? Maybe? Or...or maybe Dad dropped it someplace?" the scared young woman suggested, terrified to admit that someone had intentionally scratched the wording off.

Miriam shook her head sadly from side to side. "No..it wasn't damaged in the fire, and your father didn't drop it. I fixed it for him sweetie. I did. So that he didn't have to read those insipid words from your _mother_ ever again. And he didn't" smiled Miriam, remembering the work it took to defile the back of the watch.

Adrianna was shaking uncontrollably now, certain that her Aunt was out of her mind. She dared not say another word for fear of setting the woman off. After all, she was the one with the knife.

Jane pulled into the leafy neighbourhood and searched for a parking spot somewhere on Adrianna's street. He was a good block away but would enjoy the shady walk up to the tidy house. Ahead of him he saw a large beige van in the driveway under the carport and the small Fiat again. Alongside the Fiat was a small Toyota, a very recent model. Nice car. The beige van was a bit out of place, but he would bet money that it belonged to young Cal. Checking his watch, he was disappointed to see that everyone was still home at the Hoekstra house at this time of the morning. Jane stopped momentarily and reconsidered going to the house. Being watched while he searched didn't appeal to him, but he had the law on his side, and he could always tell everyone to sit on the sofa and wait until he was done. After all, a badge had an intimidating effect on people. He started to walk again, deciding to wait and play it by ear if he conducted a search right away or waited until he was alone.

Cal was lying on top of his sheets, still fully dressed in his black 'snake catching' clothes. He had stayed up late and played some video games until he fell asleep on top of his bed. Now all he wanted to do was to sleep in late, then show up at work to offer his apologies to his frowning Aunt and his recently reconciled sister. She would know that he had been out working last night so she would cut him some slack. But try as he might to ignore it, the shouting coming from the kitchen had woken him up. No amount of burying his head under the pillow could block out the sound of his sister and Tante Miriam arguing in the kitchen. The sooner they all got their own places the better! Cal groggily slid his feet into some old sneakers and stumbled out of his bedroom, then headed towards the living room. Intending to tell the women to keep the noise down in the kitchen, he was distracted by polite knocking on the front door. Seeing that his sister and his Aunt hadn't heard the tapping, he wandered over to the door and opened it.

Cal looked at Patrick Jane, the last person he expected to see so early in the morning, here, at his house.

"Good morning Cal. Nice to see you again."

"Uh… morning Agent Jane."

"Just Jane...not an agent...mind if I come in?"

Cal looked confused and unwilling to speak to an FBI Agent so soon after his experience yesterday.

"Can't it wait Mr. Jane? I just got up, have to get to work...we're all late" he mumbled, wondering why his sister didn't come to the door and rescue him.

"Sorry Calvin, it can't wait. I need to come in and take a look around. I have a search warrant. You can stay and wait or go to work, it's fine with me. If I need you or your sister I know where to find you." With that, Jane took a step up towards the door and slid past the disbelieving Cal. Jane stepped into the house and looked through the living room into the kitchen, where Miriam stood with her back to the front door, Adrianna clearly visible facing Jane against the counter. They both were standing perfectly still, as if someone had hit 'pause' on a remote.

"Morning All!" shouted Jane, smoothing his jacket down with both hands and sending the ladies a blinding smile.

Adrianna peered around Tante Miriam's shoulders and looked at Jane with a beseeching glare. Miriam pulled the knife in close to her body, making a surreptitious half turn to look at their visitor. Sensing a tense situation in the house, Jane had second thoughts about announcing a search. Things might not go so smoothly at the moment, unfortunately. Cal stood silently appraising the situation, not entirely sure what was going on and amazed that Adri hadn't taken over and greeted their FBI visitor or asked him to leave. Miriam was rooted to the spot...what was going on? Ugh...women!

"Mr. Jane!" shouted Adri, but a sudden motion from her Aunt made her step back and clam up.

"'Dri, maybe Mr. Jane would like a coffee?" said Cal, unsure what you offered an agent when he came to interrogate the whole family. He shuffled around the living room, not sure whether to pour himself a coffee or go back to bed.

Jane was about to say no, he didn't drink coffee, but something about Adrianna's rigid posture and strange expression stopped him. She wasn't behaving normally. Perhaps he could read the situation and diffuse the family squabble if he intervened. Jane walked over to the kitchen and approached Miriam, seeing as she had been so charmed by him yesterday.

"Morning Miss Hoekstra" he said, extending his hand.

A glint of sunlight flashed across the silver edge of the knife as it sliced through the air, catching Jane across the upper arm, cutting through his jacket sleeve. Time slowed down as he felt the cold steel hit his flesh. As he recoiled and grasped his bleeding arm, Adri saw her chance and sprang into motion shoving her Aunt against the table and ran across the kitchen towards the back door. Jane staggered to the floor as a wave of nausea and the first flush of pain hit him. Jane was aware that someone was running but he was momentarily inhabiting his own tiny world of shock. Cal was so amazed by this turn of events he stayed rooted to the spot, as if watching something play out in a video game. As the reality of the situation hit him, he roused himself and instinctively took several steps towards Jane to offer help. Miriam swung around and put her arm around Cal's throat, holding the knife there. Everyone in the kitchen froze.


	14. A Monster Unleashed

Happy Star Wars Day everybody...(May the 4th be with you...). I am still having issues with getting my stories up and published the right way. Hopefully this one will show up correctly. So much to learn in this chapter! If this loads correctly and shows up as published today, make sure you read the previous chapter, Cold Steel, so that this all makes sense. Thanks!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 14

A Monster Unleashed

Adrianna stared at the madwoman, stunned at the rapid deterioration in her mental state.

"Adrianna. Liefste...come back right now or I'll slit your brother's throat" Miriam said softly, glaring at the terrified woman. The knife was at the side of Cal's neck, lightly pressing on his jugular vein.

Adri turned to look at the back door longingly. It was so close, if she extended her hand she could touch the doorknob. Then she stared at her helpless brother and the bleeding man slumped on the floor. The knife Miriam was clutching was rarely used, brand new and razor sharp, the best quality steel. It would slice through Cal's skin faster than Adrianna could turn the doorknob and run away for help. Cal didn't struggle, knowing his life was in the hands of a lunatic.

"Aaaadriiii" said Miriam in a sing-song voice, "come baaaackkk."

Seeing no other way out, Adri turned around and took tiny steps back towards her Aunt and brother. Jane had recovered his senses and grabbed a tea towel from the oven door handle to make a tourniquet on his upper arm above the wound. His arm was bleeding profusely but if he could slow down the flow he could make it to a hospital, _if_ he got out of this mess alive.

"Miriam, let them go. They've done nothing wrong" Jane begged her. "We both know that they didn't do anything to hurt you Miriam."

Miriam turned and looked down at Jane and laughed. Such a stupid predictable speech. And so wrong.

"Oh but they did. They did as much as the rest of them. All of them. And they will pay for what they did just like the rest had to pay for what they did."

Adrianna gathered her courage and spoke back to her Aunt while Jane busied himself with his arm and the pooling blood.

"What did we do Tante Miriam? Tell us and we'll make it right! Just, don't hurt Cal or anyone else and we'll make it right" said Adrianna, still so innocent. "Let me help Mr. Jane and we'll get this all sorted out OK?"

Adrianna took a few steps tentative steps towards Jane under her Aunt's watchful eye. When Miriam didn't stop her, she put her arms around Jane and helped him up. Miriam didn't mind, but then, she had the knife.

"Everyone, over there!" she barked, indicating the living room. Adri helped a pale Jane into the living room while Cal was marched out with the knife at his throat.

"They don't know what happened Miriam, and they didn't hurt you. If you let them go I can explain everything to my colleagues and make it right for you. I understand how you've suffered. I understand how they made you feel" said Jane, trying to diffuse Miriam's anger and get on her good side. But a crazy person doesn't have a good side. Just a different type of crazy.

"So far the only thing that happened was a flesh wound, totally by accident when I surprised you" he suggested to mollify her. "Everyone will testify to that."

"Liar! Liar just like every other liar! No, I'll have to make this right myself, like I always do. And you're going to help me Agent Jane" Miriam said. "Let's see how well my niece and nephew can take instructions" she smiled, indicating the side door to the carport.

"Adrianna, be a good girl and grab the zip ties you'll find in the front of my purse. Go on...chop chop!" Miriam laughed.

With shaking hands Adri picked up the large brown purse and found the bundle of zip ties, wondering what on earth was going to happen next.

"Excellent. Now hand them to Agent Jane and have him put them tightly around your wrists, hands around the back please."

Adri handed them to Jane. His arm throbbed with each tiny movement, but he had to do what he was told. Taking a long zip tie, he gently grasped the young woman's wrists behind her back, securing them together, as loosely as he dared.

"So you can follow directions after all, very good liefste" smiled Miriam, relaxing slightly.

"Mr. Jane, come over here and tie Cal's wrists together, then tie yours as well. Once you've managed to do that, run a zip tie through yours and tie yourself to Cal. We wouldn't want you wandering around with such a nasty cut" she ordered him. Jane slowly made his way towards the still young man and tied his wrists together, then his own. Struggling, he then took another long tie and slipped it under his zip tie and secured his wrists to Calvin's. Each movement was extremely painful in his injured arm.

Miriam grabbed her purse and opened the side door leading to the carport. "Everyone out!"

Adri walked as ordered towards the door and was followed by Cal and a rapidly weakening Jane. His wound sent lightning bolts of pain into his shoulder and hand, the blood still leaking out from under the tea towel, but fortunately, not so quickly now.

Miriam stepped through the doorway and opened the doors to the beige van. When had she appropriated the van keys and unlocked the doors? Cal realized that his Aunt had planned this in advance. But why now?

"Front seat!" Miriam barked at Adrianna, and pointed to the back seat for Jane and Cal. With some difficulty the men got themselves into the back seat and Adri sat next to her Aunt with trepidation. With her hands behind her back, she couldn't wrest the controls of the van out of her Aunt's hands. As they pulled out and drove up the street, Adri's mind was racing. How could she save herself and the men behind her?

(FBI)

Teresa was done her paperwork quickly and grabbed her car keys. Checking the time she noted that Jane would still be at the Hoekstra house searching. Smiling to herself, she decided to grab a coffee and a tea for him on her way over there, along with a muffin and donut. Might as well be well fed during a dull search. When she drove up the street leading to the Hoekstra house, she saw Jane's car parked at the end of the block. Still searching…

She pulled in closer to the house and noted two cars in the driveway. Who had stayed home today, or did they take transit for the short trip over to the office? She took the tray of drinks and stepped up to the front door, ringing the doorbell as the drinks wobbled. A minute passed with no one responding. Jane must have been in a back bedroom snooping around. Teresa rang the bell again, maybe someone else would answer the door.

When no one appeared after another minute, Lisbon tried the door handle and found the house unlocked.

"Hello? Jane? Cal? Anyone home?" she called before stepping into the quiet house.

"Jane?" she called again, this time with some concern in her voice. She put down the drinks and stepped farther into the living room. The silence hit her first, then she noticed a trail of blood on the carpeting. A cold shiver crept up the back of her neck as she pulled her gun out of its holster. Lisbon stood still for a moment, her eyes sweeping the room, then she advanced slowly through the living room, placing one foot silently in front of the other. The trail led to the kitchen, where a larger pool of blood lay splattered on the kitchen floor and across the bottom cupboards. Bending down to examine the blood stain, Lisbon noticed a tiny piece of dark gray fabric. A rush of anguish stabbed her heart. The material matched the jacket Jane had worn to work today! A little off to one side, she saw what looked like fingerpainting in blood against a baseboard under a cupboard. In dripping blood, someone had printed "PJ/MH. Patrick Jane...Miriam Hoekstra!

Lisbon got on her cell phone and jabbed the number for Abbott while she proceeded to creep through the house, checking for more victims or suspects. A quick search proved she was alone in the house while she filled Abbot in on her discovery. Within minutes a forensic team was on its way and Abbott was going to join Teresa as quickly as possible. She followed the blood trail to the side door leading to the carport. Jane had purposefully leaned against the doorframe to leave a smudge of blood on the wood to tell law enforcement that he had been taken to the carport. 'Thank you Jane' thought Lisbon. The first parking space was empty. Someone had driven a vehicle away with Jane as a hostage. She picked up her cell phone and dialed Wylie.

"Hi Lisbon! What's up?" he said cheerily.

"Wylie, drop whatever you're doing and check something for me. Jason, can you check and see what kind of cars Calvin and Adrianna Hoekstra drive? There's a Toyota here in the driveway and I know Miriam Hoekstra drives a Fiat, but a third vehicle is missing. Can you find out who drives what?"

"Sure, give me a minute."

"Hurry Jason, it's very important!"

"Got it…"

While she waited she checked Miriam's bedroom as Jane had told her that it held some interesting bits of evidence. She wasn't sure what exactly he had wanted to find today, but she opened drawers and dug around trying to find something significant. There were the items Jane had mentioned yesterday, minus a scarf. Next she found a bundle of passports sitting one atop the other. Grabbing the first one, Lisbon studied it and flipped through the pages. When she got nearer to the back, she saw something that made her pause. Reaching for her phone, she needed another favour.

"Wait, Jason, there is something else you can do. What day did Herman and Miriam Hoekstra die?"

"O...K...looking it up ...right...now…" Wylie muttered to himself as his fingers played over the keyboard. A moment later he was back on the phone.

"OK, they died in a car crash late in the morning of March 10th, 2013. Anything else you need Lisbon?" he said innocently.

"No...no that's all Jason. Thanks. Did you find out anything about the cars?"

Jason flipped back to his other screen and perused the data coming up. "Just a minute…"

"Hurry Jason, we need this information!"

"Ok, ok...OK! There it is! Yes, the Toyota belongs to Adrianna, the Fiat is Miriam's and Calvin drives a 2012 Chevy van, beige. Should I give this to Abbott?"

"Yes, Jane's been attacked, and I believe he's a hostage in Calvin's van. I don't know if we're looking for Cal as the perp or someone else, but we need to track that van ASAP!"

"I'm on it!" barked Wylie, suddenly all business, ringing off to put out a BOLO on Cal's vehicle.

After that, Lisbon called the office of Hoekstra Importing. The line rang and rang until it diverted to the warehouse. A husky male voice answered.

"Chuck, warehouse…"

"Ah hello Chuck. Can you tell me if anyone is working in the office today?"

Chuck snorted in derision. "Nope. Looks like they all took a day off, lucky bastards. We're still working and they don't show up. Wait til my union hears about this" he began to complain.

"Thank you Chuck" Lisbon said, hanging up on him mid-rant.

So the Hoekstra's were missing and there was blood in the house. The situation was going from bad to worse. Lisbon studied the passport in her hands once again and suddenly another piece of the puzzle fell into place. Was it the piece that had caused Jane to be attacked?

(Cal's van)

"Where are you taking us?" asked Adrianna.

"Wait and see" smiled her Aunt.

"Why are you doing this to us Tante?" asked Cal from the back seat. Miriam just looked at him in the mirror and smirked.

"Always the last to know, poor Calvin" she said, giving nothing away. Jane spoke up next, not sure if it would be stupid to do so, but Cal and Adrianna needed to know what was going on before it was too late.

"Go ahead Miriam, tell them. They deserve to know" he said softly, staring at her through a haze of pain.

Miriam hit the gas pedal and sped up, agitation taking over her more conservative driving methods. They were out of town now and heading into open roads running through the countryside.

"Tell them what Agent Jane? That their family was cruel and a bunch of liars? Is that what you want me to tell them?"

"Tell them who killed their grandparents. They've suffered enough guilt. Tell them Miriam."

The car rocketed down one hill and up another, the cars passing them getting fewer and farther between.

"If guilt is the only thing they've ever suffered, I'd consider them lucky wouldn't you Agent Jane?" she suggested.

"If you don't tell them I will" Jane said defiantly.

"What aren't you telling us Tante Miriam? If you know why our grandparents died, you have to tell us!" begged Adrianna, tears falling down her cheeks. "Did someone kill them after all?"

Miriam drove on, ignoring the young woman's plea.

"Have you ever wondered why your Aunt keeps her bedroom door locked? Why you can't just go in there?" asked Jane, waiting for a reaction from Miriam. She clenched her fists on the steering wheel and took a quick look at Jane in the rear view mirror.

"It's because the proof of what happened to your grandparents is in that room, I'll bet on it. But even if there isn't proof in there, the proof is right here in this van, in your Aunt's purse...isn't it Miriam?" said Jane harshly, rightly.

"You've lost your mind Agent Jane, there's nothing in my purse that would explain why my parents died in that accident. Nothing."

"So now it's an accident again? Yesterday you wanted me to believe it was all Henny's fault, that somehow she was to blame for what happened to your family" he said, seeing Miriam's eyebrows furrow at this contradiction.

"What? My mother? Tante Miriam, my mother had nothing to do with Oma and Opa's deaths!" shouted Adrianna. Miriam took a swipe at her with her right hand to shut her up.

Jane continued, seeing how he had struck a nerve. "But we both know that Henny had nothing to do with killing your parents, don't we? I'll bet if we looked in your purse right now we'd find a keyring, with a cute pair of wooden shoes hanging on the ring."

Cal and Adrianna both looked at each other. They had seen that keyring on Miriam's desk for a couple of years!

"So? There are millions of those trinkets in the world, sold in every souvenir shop carrying Dutch products" spat out Miriam, getting angrier with every mile.

"But not for sale at your factory outlet store Miriam. There is one store that carries them in downtown Amsterdam, quite close to Centraal Station. That store carries those keyrings but they go one step further than most souvenir shops. They write the date on the bottom of one shoe, and the word 'Amsterdam' on the other shoe, so you can remember exactly when you visited that city. And your wooden shoes have 'March 9th, 2013' painted on the bottom."

Adrianna stared at her Aunt with the truth dawning on her.

"Tante, how did you get that keyring in Amsterdam, if you were home in Austin while we were in Holland with Oma and Opa?"


	15. Watch and Learn

Happy Friday everyone! Here's another chapter to tide you over until Monday. Reviews, as always, are appreciated. Is it turning out the way you expected? Did you figure it out? Still having issues uploading new chapters. So go by the chapter numbers changing, not by the publishing date anymore.

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 15

Watch and Learn

Lisbon was pacing the length of the front porch when Cho and Abbott pulled up into the street in front of the Hoekstra house. A forensic team arrived at the same time while uniformed police cordoned off the street and set up a command post. Gawkers craned their necks to see what was going on in their safe tidy neighbourhood.

"Any hits on the BOLO for Cal's van?" asked Lisbon, desperate for some good news.

"No...it's pretty early to get feedback, but we've got our best guys out there looking Teresa" said Abbott, seeing the fear on her face. Was Jane dead? Were his wounds serious, with him in pain somewhere hidden away? The possibilities were flooding Lisbon's mind. Just a tiny tip, a morsel of news, anything to shed some light on what had happened here today would go far to ease her sense of dread.

"We've got choppers up looking for the van in the city and out in the country. They haven't had a long head start, so maybe the van hasn't gone to ground yet" Cho said, offering comfort in a controlled voice.

How many times had they been through this before with Jane? His ability to get himself into trouble was impressive, but this time, he had done nothing outlandish. He had actually followed the rules, but still ended up in danger. He attracted it: moth, meet flame…

Trying to distract Lisbon, Abbott asked her to fill him in on what she or Jane had discovered in the house.

"Jane mentioned a shrine of sorts in Miriam's bedroom. I checked it out and it might be what got him in trouble."

"Show me."

Lisbon avoided looking at the blood on the floor and guided Abbott and Cho into Miriam's bedroom.

Lisbon showed her fellow agents the odd assortment of items that clearly had once belonged to her parents, her brother and her nephew and niece. While musing that collecting those items was odd, Abbott didn't think it pointed to any criminal activity.

"This may be what Miriam didn't want anyone to see" said Lisbon, holding up a passport.

Cho flipped the pages and looked up at Lisbon, not seeing anything out of the ordinary.

"It's OK Cho, I missed it at first too, but then I got thinking about the stamps in the back. Wylie confirmed that the Hoekstra's died on March 10th, 2013. They were supposedly alone in Amsterdam with their nephew and niece. But look at this…" she said as she pointed to a stamp in Miriam's passport.

"Amsterdam, Schiphol, March 9th, 2013" Abbott read out loud.

"Miriam has always maintained that she had to stay behind in Austin to help her brother Klaas at work while her parents were away in Europe" Lisbon said.

"She lied" Cho stated grimly.

"This is why no one was allowed to be in her room, in case they saw this date and put two and two together. Did Jane see it and get caught? Did Cal or Adrianna see it and ask questions that Miriam couldn't answer?" asked Lisbon.

"Bag all of this for evidence. We need to find that van as soon as possible. If Miriam had anything to do with her parents death and Cal and Adrianna find out, they won't live long enough to tell anyone" said Abbott.

"Got it" said Cho as he called members of the forensic team over. Another team was in the kitchen, dusting for fingerprints and swabbing the blood samples for identification. Photos were taken of the blood spatter pattern and the empty coffee cups were bagged for testing and fingerprinting.

"Cho, check it out" said Lisbon, pointing to the rack of knives with a slot empty.

Seeing the spot where a knife should have been, he inhaled deeply. The knife missing was very large. A knife that long and sharp could do terrible things to a person. What kind of injuries did Jane have? Cho told the team to bag those knives as well, to compare them to whatever was recovered when they found Jane, Miriam or whoever else was missing.

Abbott directed some of his men to fan out in the neighbourhood to speak to anyone living there. Someone may have seen odd activity at the house today. Any tiny bit of testimony could help them find Jane and the rest of the Hoekstra family.

Seeing that the scene was contained, Abbott and Cho walked out with Lisbon and made plans.

"We need to find out where Miriam would go in desperation, if she does have Jane as a hostage. We must also assume that it could be Cal or Adrianna who's done all this" said Abbott.

"OK, we can interview Cal's friends and associates, see where he hangs out, what he does after work, same for Adrianna."

"On it" said Lisbon, running for her car. " I'll go after Adrianna, Cho you get what you can from Cal's friends. Stay in touch!" she said as she jogged to her car.

Abbott and Cho drove away, with Cho placing a call to Hoekstra Importing. Someone there might know something about the private lives of Cal and Miriam.

(Cal's Van)

Miriam pulled off the main road and headed for the hill country. She seemed familiar with the back roads although she would have no reason to drive out here on her own. Eventually she drove up a dusty side road leading to a large wooden shed set into a clearing in the scrubby terrain. Cal recognized where they were.

Turning off the car, Miriam turned in her seat to face the questioning faces of her hostages.

"Very good Adri. About time you put two and two together. My keyring has been hiding in plain sight for two years! I always wondered how you could be so stupid for so long. Everyone out of the van! Now!" she barked, grabbing her purse and opening her door. Adri slid over her seat and waited for Miriam to open her door.

"Stand there!" she was instructed, while her Aunt slid open the side door for Jane and Cal to emerge from the hot vehicle.

"Over there" she indicated, pointing to the weathered building. It was the supply shed that the 'snake guys' used to keep all of their equipment, extra vivariums, a refrigerator to store necessities, anything useful they might need while out on call at all hours. It saved them a long drive back into town to pick up something they needed while out catching rogue snakes.

Miriam thrust her hand into Cal's jean pockets and pulled out a key. Trying it in the lock on the door to the building, the lock clicked open and she stepped back, motioning for the reluctant group to enter the murky dark space. Only one small window set up high in a wall let a bit of sunlight bleed into the utilitarian space. Flicking on a light, Miriam reached into her bag and pulled out a gun, feeling even more empowered now.

"Oh my God Tante Miriam! Stop before someone else gets hurt!" Adrianna beseeched the woman. Miriam snorted in derision. Getting people hurt was her whole plan.

"Have you figured it out yet Missy? Hmm?" teased Miriam, focussing on her niece. Adrianna shook her head and couldn't see why her Aunt had that keyring, let alone how she had managed to kill anyone.

"You flew over to Amsterdam, did something to the car and let our grandparents die" said Cal angrily. "What I can't figure out is why? Why would you kill your own parents? You idolized them!" he said in amazement.

Miriam stood against the side wall with her gun aimed her captives and smiled deeply, so happy to finally tell everyone her truth.

"Idolized? That's a very strong word Calvin. I loved my parents and they loved me. But my Pappa, he loved Klaas even more than me. He showed it every day, in a thousand tiny ways. Every day his words would hurt me." She affected a masculine voice:

"Miriam, stay behind and help Mamma while Klaas and I go and visit some stores."

"Miriam, help Mamma tidy up the office, we have a business meeting here today."

"Miriam, why are you so interested in how the car engine works? That's a man's job. Some day your husband will repair your car, not you."

"Miriam, Mamma and I need to go to Holland on business, you need to stay behind and answer the phones, watch the office."

"Why do you want to know how to place orders my girl? That's what I'm training your brother to do."

Miriam relived those disappointments again and again as she spoke, her father's words inflicting new wounds as she recited his crimes.

"And when I made a list of ways to increase business, change our inventory to bring in new customers, did my Pappa read it? No! He told me that the business was operating just fine the way it was. Then he folded up the list and put it away. Even my ideas were tainted by me being a girl!" Miriam explained.

"So that was enough to kill your parents Miriam?" Jane asked quietly, happy she was finally talking.

Miriam wandered around the small space, the gun firmly in her grasp, the knife in her other hand.

"They planned to go to Holland in the spring that year, just Mamma and Pappa. They had promised me that I could leave the office in Klaas's hands and take a mini-vacation with them while they conducted their business. Mamma and I planned on going to the Rijksmuseum and then going on a canal tour. We hadn't done that since I was a little girl. We could shop on the Kalverstraat and go to an outdoor market. Amsterdam is such a great city. We could be busy there for days and days, just the two of us! Then we would meet up with Pappa in the hotel after he was finished work for the day and have a wonderful meal together looking out over the city." Miriam smiled at the memory of her planned holiday.

"What happened to change those plans?"asked Cal.

The smile fell off Miriam's face. Turning to her nephew, she raised the knife and pointed it in his direction.

"You did. You and your entitled sister happened to my plans!" she spat out in hatred. "I had my ticket arranged and then you two came home with bad school reports. Your father was so disappointed in you both and your mother just found excuses for your lousy attitudes. Your parents were wondering what to do to get you to buckle down for the final term. Your mother's bright idea was to send you off to Holland with Oma and Opa, taking my place, so that you could return refreshed and ready to study."

"But we told them we were happy to stay home with our friends!" said Adri in their defence.

"And yet you went anyway, why not? You had a free ticket and a few days to stroll around the streets of Amsterdam while the old folks were busy earning money for the family."

"How did you end up there Miriam?" Jane asked calmly, in need of a drink and a pain killer.

"I had a ticket already didn't I? So what if Pappa asked me to stay home. Klaas and Henny were there to run the business, so I told Klaas I was going to go and visit some friends for a couple of days. What could he do about it? I flew out on Friday night, landed in Amsterdam Saturday morning, then left a message for Mamma at her hotel Saturday afternoon. She was shocked but happy that I came. She called me and I told her that I planned to spend a few days with her alone in Holland. Pappa could fly home with the grandkids and we could finally have some time together, just the two of us."

"Why didn't that work out for you Miriam?" Jane pressed her.

Miriam could see her mother's face so clearly in her memory, happy to have time to stay behind and have fun with her adult daughter for once. A break from work and being an obedient wife, she could just let herself go for a day or two with Miriam. Then her face clouded over at the memory of her mother's rushed call that last Sunday morning.

"I had rented a car for Pappa and the kids to use to go back to the airport. Since my name was the same as Mamma's, everyone would think she had rented the car, so no suspicion would fall on me. I realized that if I fixed the brakes on the car just right, Mamma and I would have all the time in the world to enjoy Amsterdam and a life without Pappa, Cal and Adrianna. So on Saturday night I broke into the hotel garage and tampered with the brakes so that the car would eventually be uncontrollable. Pappa always told me to pay attention and learn, and that's what I'd done. For years while he taught Klaas all about cars, I watched, I learned."

"So you planned to kill us and Opa, just so you could have your mother all to yourself?" asked Adrianna in horror. "Did you hate us that much?"

Miriam was in her own world now. Did she even hear Adrianna?

"Sunday, late in the morning, I got a call from Mamma, telling me how awful it had been in Cal and Adrianna's hotel room." She looked at her nephew and niece with hatred and spoke about them as if they weren't even in the room with her now.

Glaring at the ashamed siblings, Miriam continued, explaining to no one in particular. "They had gone out and gotten themselves drunk and stoned, then they had the nerve to scream at their Oma and Opa, telling them they were old and boring. They said they didn't want to go to the airport with them. Mamma was devastated and Pappa was so hurt...so disappointed… but Mamma told me how she hoped to smooth things over before it was time to leave for the airport."

Tears of shame ran down Adri's face at the memory yet again of that horrible morning when they had treated their grandparents so dreadfully. If only they could take it back and redo that day. Cal hung his head in shame as well. He was worse than his sister since he had instigated the whole affair the night before by insisting on going out partying.

"I wasn't worried, I knew that Mamma would make it right. She always did and that Cal and Adrianna would go in the car with their Opa and leave for Schiphol Airport as planned. So I waited at my hotel to hear from Mamma again. I went out for lunch, and when I got back to my hotel, I was given a message at the lobby from Mamma, telling me that Cal and Adri wouldn't change their minds. Pappa had decided to fly home on schedule Sunday after all with Mamma. He wouldn't change his mind to let her stay, not even for me."

The real story of the 'accident' had finally been revealed to Cal and Adrianna. The car had been tampered with, and their grandparents had died in the car instead of them.

"I flew home as soon as I could check out of the hotel. I went directly to work Monday morning and Klaas was waiting for me with the news that our parents were dead" Miriam said flatly, as if it was someone else's tragedy, someone else's loss.

"You killed your own mother out of spite for your father, as if it was nothing, and then just went back to work. You're a sociopath!" Jane spat out in disgust. He didn't have time to flinch before the gun butt slammed up the side of his head as his punishment for insolence. He slumped over Cal, stunned.


	16. Descent Into Madness

Thank you to everyone who took the time to contact me and write reviews. Very much appreciated. Let's see if this chapter loads properly, fingers crossed!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 16

Descent Into Madness

The blow to his head sent Jane crashing to the floor, dragging Cal down with him. While the young man tried to keep Jane upright, Jane's head lolled on his chest as he recovered from the blow from Miriam's gun. A pounding headache was forming between his eyes and he had to wait for the room to stop spinning before he dared to open his eyes. Cal whispered quietly to his companion, worried his Aunt had killed the FBI Agent.

"You OK Agent Jane?"

Jane took another minute or two to answer, as he considered how he could possibly be 'OK' tied up, beaten up and stabbed, twice. But the young man huddled next to him was clearly panicked and needed to hear Jane's voice right about now.

"Just peachy..."

Cal breathed a sigh of relief at his response, then fell into a solemn silence. Miriam had finally revealed why their Oma and Opa died. Adrianna stared at her brother, both of them realizing that they had played an unwitting part in the murder of their beloved grandparents, even if they had not tampered with the brakes and planned for their deaths themselves. They had played into Miriam's delusions and allowed her to kill her own mother by accident, but her father on purpose. Any hope of getting over their deaths now was gone.

Miriam waved her gun at Adrianna. "You too, on the floor!" She had decided to enact phase two of her revenge against her family.

Jane slowly opened his eyes and watched Miriam order the young woman to sit. He and Cal still had their wrists zip tied painfully together. The blood from Jane's head injury flowed down his shoulder and mixed with the drying blood on his arm. Adrianna sat down with difficulty and scooted close to her brother, his proximity affording her a tiny bit of comfort. If not for being tied to Agent Jane, Cal was willing to try to rush his crazy Aunt and knock her weapons out of her hands, but with another man tied to him, he had no chance at all to overpower their kidnapper. As for Adrianna, she was so paralyzed with fear and grief, she was incapable of assaulting her Aunt.

Miriam walked over to the fridge and reached in to retrieve a small glass jar with an opaque liquid inside.

As the three hostages watched, she put on thick gloves and unscrewed the lid. Taking a shallow pan, she poured a small amount of liquid into the pan and ran the knife blade through the mystery substance. Carefully replacing the lid, she put the jar back in the fridge and turned back to face her captives.

"This will appeal to you Cal, I'm sure you'll appreciate this if no one else does" Miriam smiled at her nephew.

"For years you've been trying to convince your sister and me that your snakes are harmless and really quite wonderful. As you know, you have been unsuccessful...at least as far as your sister is concerned. You still hate snakes don't you dear?" Miriam addressed Adrianna.

"Yes" she answered softly.

"Now, this is the part that I think will be particularly appealing to you Calvin. I have been paying attention to you, for years now. Every lecture at supper time about snakes, how to care for them, how to handle them, how to tell venomous snakes from the harmless variety...I actually listened and learned. Because I knew that someday, I might need that information. And guess what Cal? Today is the day! Today I can thank you for teaching me what I needed to know about Coral snakes, Rattlesnakes, Copperheads... and the boring garden variety of snakes that you keep in your room. And you know what Cal? They are nice to touch! I can't tell you how often I unlock the door to your snake palace and go in and study each and every one of your pets, picking them up and holding them close. They don't scare me at all!" she laughed, shocking Cal with her admission.

"Now I know that you stayed out late last night Cal, catching snakes with your buddies - good for you. Then you came home and played those stupid video games until you fell asleep on your bed. But did you know that I went out and came here?"

"How did you know where this shed was Tante Miriam? I never told you about this" Cal said.

"No, of course you didn't, but then you didn't have to. I've followed you enough times to see where you go and what you do out here. I watched your buddies out here milking a Coral snake last night, when you thought they'd gone home. The venom is in that jar, to be sent to a hospital to be used as an antidote for a snake bite victim. Such conscientious men. And so kind of them to leave me some venom to use today!" she said with glee, checking the knife edge for venom residue.

Jane felt ill. His head and his arm throbbed, but the idea of them all dying of snake venom was what was making him sick. They had a 'golden' hour after being bitten or cut to get treatment before their bodies started to break down towards an inevitable death. Miriam was just crazy enough to cut each of them with the poisoned knife and leave them to die out in the desert somewhere.

"How do you suppose this is all going to be resolved Tante Miriam?" Adrianna asked, now dry eyed and focussed.

"Resolved? Good question Adrianna. My resolution may not be your idea of a resolution, but since only my opinion counts, I'll tell you what's going to happen next."

Miriam strode over to Cal and looked down on him.

"I've been planning this day for a long long time. When exactly I would set the wheels in motion wasn't clear to me until last night. Calvin here was stupid enough to tell family secrets to an FBI agent, that would be you, Mr. Jane. Big mistake. Then Mr. Jane called both of you into his office to interrogate you. God only knows what you told him. Then you Agent Jane, came to my house with your attractive partner. I knew you wouldn't be put off and would come back, which in fact you did, this morning. So last night I decided it was time to move on, settle old scores and right old wrongs. Adrianna and Calvin here are as much to blame for their grandparents deaths as I am, and as such must pay. But I'll give you both a fighting chance to get away. That's only fair since we're family."

"What are you going to do with Agent Jane?" Cal asked, panic in his voice now.

"Oh I'm not going to do a thing to him. You, Cal, you will take care of Agent Jane for me and in a very public way. By the end of the afternoon Agent Jane will be dead, Adrianna may or may not be alive...that will depend upon you Calvin" Miriam smiled, taking great pleasure in seeing the fear in her hostage's eyes.

"So! Who's ready for round two?" she shouted, picking up her knife and gun.

(FBI)

Lisbon had done her research and spoke to several of Adrianna's friends. Unfortunately they couldn't suggest where Adrianna would go to hide if she was in trouble with the law. She didn't belong to any clubs, and didn't volunteer anywhere after work. Her life so far had mostly consisted of school, family and work at Hoekstra Importing. Free nights were sometimes spent with girlfriends and the occasional date, but nothing serious was happening in that department. She just seemed to be a busy girl trying to establish herself in her job as CEO of a growing business. Lisbon had nowhere else to look at the moment so she drove over to the FBI building to try and come up with a new angle to pursue, possibly with Wylie's assistance.

Cho and Abbott had been more successful gathering information about Cal in his private life. He was currently without a girlfriend, but spent a great deal of time volunteering with a group of like-minded young men who were "snake wrestlers". That explained the cages full of snakes at the house. Cho was given the name of one of the young men and Abbott was on his way to interview two other men who worked alongside Cal to capture errant snakes.

The young man Cho was going to interview worked in a real estate office. Cho found him studying new listings and shocked him when he displayed his FBI credentials and wanted to discuss Calvin Hoekstra. Once he was assured that Calvin could in fact be a victim and not a criminal, his friend relaxed and was happy to chat about his tender-hearted friend. He listed several places he thought Cal might go under duress, from the library to his favourite bars. Finally he mentioned the shed out in the desert as a last ditch suggestion.

"I doubt he would go 'way out there. It's just a wooden shed with all our gear, a fridge, not much else in the way of creature comforts. You wouldn't want to stay there for any length of time Agent Cho. It's not comfortable and would make a terrible hideout if you were running away from the law" said the young man, certain that if Cal was in any kind of trouble, the shed would be the dumbest place to go.

"Thanks for the input, much appreciated. If you're contacted by Cal, please call us immediately" said Cho, handing over one of his business cards. The young real estate agent marvelled at having a real Agent in his office, let alone his business card in his hand.

Cho checked in with Lisbon and Abbott and agreed to meet them back at work. Until they got a hit on the BOLO for the van, they would have to organize a search based on the information they had just received.

Abbott was already in the bullpen when Cho and Lisbon returned from their foray into Austin.

"Did you get anything useful from his friend?" Lisbon asked Cho. His information matched what the other men had told Abbott, with the inclusion of a few other places they could check for Calvin if he chose to disappear. Again the shed was mentioned as a possible but unlikely destination.

"Ok, let's get some agents out in the field to search every place on our list. It's a long shot, but it's the only avenue we have right now to find someone in the family. No one can suggest where Miriam would go. Her life outside of work is a mystery to everyone at Hoekstra Importing. We have almost nothing to go on as far as she's concerned" said Abbott with frustration. Patrick had written PJ/MH. Was Miriam the one with the knife or a victim as well as Jane?

Abbott called a quick meeting to inform his field agents about the situation and handed out photos of Cal, Adrianna, Jane and Miriam. They were to proceed with caution if any of the Hoekstra's were spotted. Any of them could be the suspect they were searching for, not a victim.

(The Shed)

Miriam had decided that it was time to roll out the second part of her plan to seek revenge against Cal and Adrianna. The fact that an FBI agent was along for the ride just made the whole endeavour that much more fun. When she was done with Cal, the whole city would be screaming for his blood, thanks to the internet.

Miriam put her gun on the long table in the centre of the room then stood over Adrianna, silent and calculating her next move. Suddenly she grabbed her by her upper arm, and started to drag her away from the side of her brother. Adri fought back as best she could, but with her hands secured behind her back she had no leverage, with the added disadvantage of being on the ground and unable to stand up.

"Stop struggling Adrianna. Listen to your Tante for once!" yelled Miriam, as if that would make the young woman more obedient now in this dangerous situation.

Adri continued to resist as she was dragged to the side of the work table.

"Are you going to let everyone die without telling them the rest?" shouted Jane, desperate to slow down Miriam and whatever plan she was hell bent on fulfilling. Blood had dripped into his eye and distorted his vision.

Taking his cue from Jane, Cal spoke up. "Yes Tante Miriam. We still don't know how Mum and Dad died. But you know, don't you?"

Miriam took her eyes off the cowering girl and found the question to be highly amusing. Leering over Adrianna, the knife twisting in her palm, she smiled broadly, pleased that someone had remembered that little accomplishment.

"Well of course you know Calvin. They died in that awful fire. Such a tragedy, such a mystery. Even the Fire Marshall had to admit it could've been caused by so many things, any one of them just an unfortunate happenstance."

"But you were there Tante" Cal said angrily. "I saw you! Driving away from their street late at night!"

Jane eyed Cal. So that's what he'd picked up from Cal when he had him in the interrogation room. Cal hadn't been lying. He'd been withholding his suspicions about his Aunt's involvement in the fire.

"You saw me? How could you Cal, you were in the city with your friends for the evening, as I recall. Telling lies about me now will do you no good" she smirked as she turned back to Adrianna.

"I saw you at midnight. My friend had to go home early and we dropped him off at his house around the corner. We took a short cut up our street to get back to the city, and your Fiat was behind me, coming from the end of the block where Dad's house was. You killed them!"

Miriam swung around and glowered at the insolence in Cal's tone, in his accusation. How long had he nursed the idea that she could have been responsible for his parent's deaths? He had never said a word to anyone...so he wasn't sure, was he?

Smiling at her successes so far and Cal's tortured observation, she decided to just let it all out in the open. Do them all good. What did it matter now anyway?

"Bravo Calvin, bravo. Finally the mouse has the balls to roar. You are quite right I'm afraid. That was my car driving up your street that night. Do you remember the details of that weekend?" she asked Adrianna and Cal.

There was a moment of silence while brother and sister thought back to that dreadful night two years ago.

"Dad had to go to Dallas to meet a client. Mum was really sick with a cold, she just couldn't shake it" said Adrianna.

"Dad took airport transportation to the airport Friday night and Mum was going to stay in bed and rest. She hoped that when Dad came home Sunday she would be up and around again" said Cal, remembering his mother's rough voice and stuffy nose, so miserable with her cold hanging on.

"But Dad's client had to cut their meeting short. His son was injured in a football game and had to be rushed to the hospital. His client took the call and made his apologies to Dad. Dad said it was OK, they could reschedule their meeting since he had a cold too and he wanted to come home and take care of Mum" said Adrianna. "We wouldn't have even known that, except the client came to the funerals and told us about his short meeting with our Dad."

All eyes fell on Miriam, waiting for her to explain her role in the fire.

"All the planning in the world and a stupid football injury fucks it all up!" she said harshly. "I had worked it all out that week. It was simple, beautiful, actually. Klass told me he'd be away in Dallas from Friday to Sunday, so I waited until Saturday night. Henny was still up reading when I got to her house. I told her I wanted to give her some cough medicine that worked really well. She was happy to have it because hers wasn't helping and she didn't want to have to get up and go shopping for something else. She took a big swig of it while I was there then put the bottle on the night table to take more later in the night. Of course she didn't know that I had added a sedative to the medicine to make her sleep. And boy did she sleep!" Miriam giggled, still delighted at the simplicity of her plan.

"Just before midnight I came back to the house with my key and let myself in. Klaas's car was in the driveway but I knew he was going to use airport transportation, so I thought he was still gone. I had the house to myself since Henny was out cold. The bedroom door was closed and I lit a cheap candle, putting it by a pile of laundry Henny had left by the bedroom door. Too bad she hadn't taken it downstairs yet. One thing led to another, oh my, and before you know it...the laundry is on fire! When I left, the hallway was burning nicely, right outside her bedroom door!" she grinned. "Your father always left his watch on the hallway table, he used to forget to wear it after work. So I took it with me, along with a few other things he couldn't be bothered to put away. He was always so messy. I took those for myself, mementoes of a special night" she smiled, remembering the blaze as she drove away.

"But Daddy was there too! How could you kill your own brother?" cried Adrianna, imagining the flames springing up around the door trapping her parents in their room.

"It was that Goddamned football game! Your father was supposed to be gone until the next day. How was I to know he came back early and crawled into bed with your mother? He must have taken some of that medicine too, because when the house caught fire, neither one of them moved off the bed" she said, still stunned that Klaas himself had fallen victim to her cold-blooded scheme.

Adrianna was weeping quietly, shocked by the story her Tante told of premeditated murder. Not only did she kill her own parents, she had repeated the offense and killed her own brother and sister-in-law. Calvin stared at his Aunt with undisguised hatred.

"You're insane. And stupid!" he spat out. "First you screw up and kill your own mother, then you do it again and kill your brother! You are the dumbest murderer ever!" he screamed at Miriam.

Instead of lunging at him with the knife to punish him for his accusation, Miriam stayed still, studying her nephew.

"No, I'm not insane, not at all. It's you Calvin and you Adrianna who killed your parents and your grandparents, not me. I just handled the mechanics of their deaths, but it was your cockiness and insolence that got your Oma and Opa killed, and your stupid mother who sent you to Holland in the first place. You two and your stupid mother, without the three of you my life would have been perfect. Klaas and I would have inherited the business and run it the way it should have been run. But even in death I got screwed out of my birthright when you two idiots inherited the business instead of me. Instead of me!" she yelled, turning to face Adrianna once again, her face a contorted mask of anger and madness.

Miriam gripped the knife tightly, and turned on her niece.

"This will only take a moment liefste" she smiled, then she swiped the knife edge across Adrianna's upper arm, leaving a bloody trail across her white flesh.

"Noooo!" screamed Cal, seeing his sister suffer under the cruelty of his Aunt. As the blood coursed down Adrianna's sleeve, she moaned in pain. Then Miriam turned towards Jane and Calvin with satisfaction.

"Who's next? Huh? Who's the bravest?" she giggled, amused by her own power. Jane and Calvin shrank back against the wall knowing what the crazy woman would do next.

"I...think...just for being so nosey, the Agent should go next!" Miriam shouted, swinging the poisoned knife and slashing Jane across the calf. Jane hissed in shock as his leg sent bolts of pain into his brain. Blood oozed down his pant leg, pooling on the dusty floor beneath him. Now Miriam turned on Cal and raised her arm dramatically in the air, daring him to look up at her.

"Poor little Calvin, always last" she cooed as she cut him across his unprotected upper arm. The sleeve of his black shirt flopped open revealing a deep gash across his bicep. As he recoiled in agony his shirt became shiny with warm blood.

"Like sister, like brother!" Miriam laughed. Then she started to talk as if she hadn't just stabbed three people.

"Now here's where it get interesting" she said in an enthusiastic whisper. "Pay attention now kiddies. Let's all check our watches shall we?" she said, looking at her wrist watch. "If all of you get medical help within the hour, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. But if you dilly dally and don't do what I say, the longer it takes for you to get to a hospital, the more the venom will circulate in your body and cause irreparable tissue damage. By tomorrow, you'll be dead for sure!" she smiled as if promising them a special treat. And of course, she had no intention of letting any of them near a hospital.

Adrianna was whimpering softly as she leaned back against the table leg, her arm bleeding through her work clothes. Cal and Jane lay back against the wall, still tied together, their wounds seeping a rich red pool while they worked to control their emotions. Panic now would doom any efforts they made to get out of this situation alive. Miriam hummed softly to herself, as she turned to dip the bloody blade into the tray of venom once again. She wasn't finished with her captives, not by a long shot.


	17. Revenge, Part 2

I have received some great PM's with good guesses as to what will happen next. So, on to the next chapter to see if I can answer some of your questions.

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 17

Revenge, Part 2

Miriam stepped away from the tray holding snake venom and barked an order at Adrianna. It was time to get the show on the road, quite literally.

"You, lean back against the table" Miriam shouted at Adrianna. Taking another long zip tie, Miriam secured Adrianna's tied hands to the support beam underneath the table. Then she turned to the men. Pointing her gun at them, she ordered them to stand up and face the door.

Cal helped Jane get to his feet. If they hadn't been tied together and Miriam would just put down her gun, this whole sordid episode would end in moments if Jane could manage to attack her. While he was not naturally a fighter, there was no way that Jane would go to his death without at least trying to wrestle the woman to the ground.

"So sorry to leave you alone liefste, but the boys and I will be gone for a little while. But don't worry, I'll be back in a jiffy to deal with you" she smiled sweetly at the shaking young woman. She retrieved the bloody knife and turned to Cal and Jane. Miriam held the knife in her left hand while she kept her gun on the men as she threw open the door and ordered them to go outside. They slowly made their way, encumbered by Jane's injured leg. Slamming the door shut behind her, Miriam slid open the door on the back of the van and told them to get inside and lie down. As the men walked towards the vehicle, Adrianna cried out for Cal, screaming his name from inside the small building. With her voice in their ears, Cal and Jane struggled to comply but after some maneuvering, they got in the back of the van and lay down on the hard steel floor amid the clutter of Cal's junk. Miriam shut the door and ran around to the front of the van and started to drive.

"It's a beautiful day for a drive don't you think?" asked Miriam. Neither Jane nor Cal would dignify her comment with an answer. Switching on her favourite local radio station, Miriam relaxed to the sounds of country music as the van disappeared in a cloud of dust. She hummed along, happy that her plans were working out so well this time. This time there would be no surprises, no one to fuck anything up. She had complete control. By the end of the day, she would be the sole heir to Hoekstra Importing and assume her rightful position as CEO of the company. She couldn't stop herself from smiling at the thought. When she was done with Calvin, he will have committed suicide by cop, and poor Agent Jane would be caught in the crossfire, dying a tragic and newsworthy death. As for Adrianna, the kidnapped sibling would be found in the next few days out in the hill country somewhere, snake bitten and dead. Such a tragedy. Naturally, Cal would be the serial killer no one had suspected, all these years.

(The Search)

Several reported sightings of the beige van were keeping the local police and FBI busy, as each one had to be verified and tracked down. In each case it was the wrong van, wrong license plate, wrong owner. Time was ticking by with each dead end. Agents fanned out across the city to check anywhere Cal or Adrianna could possibly be hiding with their hostages. Friends had given the police and agents leads that they thought were helpful, but in reality were time wasters. Cho and Lisbon headed out into the hill country to see if Cal had gone to his shed for some reason. Abbott was driving out as well in another SUV to check in with local cops and to speak to potential eyewitnesses who said they had seen the van in passing. As much as he hoped these leads were solid, Abbott feared they would also turn out to be fanciful imaginings by excited news hounds.

Back at the FBI bullpen Wylie was monitoring all channels of communication, from police radio calls to the pilots in the helicopters overhead. He had several TV news channels pulled up on his laptop in case they got a scoop on the kidnapping and reported it to the audience before notifying the authorities. Strangely enough, in order to get the best ratings, some TV and radio stations did this instead of calling the police first. It was a dog eat dog world in the media and everyone wanted to be first with a salacious story. Watching all of the above kept Wylie glued to his desk. If it helped Jane, he would do it all night. This was the slow, agonizing process necessary to find Jane and whoever had really kidnapped him.

(The Shed)

Adrianna watched the door of the shed slam as Miriam disappeared with Cal and Jane at gunpoint. As soon as she heard the van pull away, she began to work at her restraints, trying to loosen her zip ties enough to run for help. While Jane had tied her up as loosely as possible, Miriam had shown her no such mercies and now her hands were losing circulation as the ties were extremely tight. No amount of wriggling or maneuvering did any good, she was trapped. Searching the floor, she tried to find something to use to set herself free, but to no avail. It was just dust and scraps of paper, nothing sharp to try to grasp in numb fingers to slice through her restraints. She was terrified at the thought that Miriam had taken Cal and Agent Jane out into the hills to shoot them or leave them hidden somewhere until they died from the snake venom now circulating in their veins. Eventually Adrianna sat back and cried, resigned to her fate at the hands of her insane Tante.

(The Hostages)

Out on the backroads outside of Austin, Miriam passed few vehicles, most of them belonging to ranchers pulling horse trailers behind their trucks. They took no notice of the dusty nondescript van barreling down the road. The main highway was a constant gridlock of traffic, the scourge of a city as vibrant and popular as Austin, but once off the main thoroughfare Miriam knew she would disappear into endless miles of scrub brush, cacti and ranches so far back from the road that she couldn't even see the house or barns. She had become invisible. She had a plan, an idea that had been festering in her mind for a long time, but only with the arrival of Agent Jane had it all come to fruition. She had noticed a bridge over a river that for the last ten years had dried up to the level of a small creek. However, the drought was now over thanks to a long summer of record breaking rainfall for this part of Texas. The little river was now a fast flowing torrent, the waters reaching the top of the riverbanks on either side of its path through the rolling hills. The bridge was only used by locals to get their kids to school and by families heading into town once or twice a week on shopping expeditions. It was the perfect spot to humiliate Calvin.

As she approached the river, Miriam shouted out her orders to the men in the back of the van.

"It's showtime Calvin! When we get to the bridge, you and your FBI companion will get out and walk to the middle of the bridge. I will remove your zip ties but you won't run to safety."

"That's exactly what we'll do you bitch!" yelled Cal, his heart ruling his head and not helping his cause one bit. Jane sighed in frustration. If he could get close to Miriam for long enough, maybe he could try to hypnotize her, but in her current manic state, it would be next to impossible to get through to her. It was like trying to hypnotize a barking dog.

"OK, so we don't run and we follow instructions Miriam. Then what happens?" Jane said calmly, trying to placate the woman and find out what the next part of her plan would be. While he was being cautious, Miriam only saw weakness and a sad, defeated man. She didn't know Jane.

"You and your new boyfriend here will stand in the middle of the bridge and wait. By now the police will be looking for you. If not, someone will see Cal holding a knife on you and will call the cops anyway."

"What makes you think I'd do that if I don't have to? I can just throw the knife in the river and we can go for help" said Cal, still not thinking things through enough to understand why he would comply with his Aunt's wishes if she left them alone.

"It's Adrianna Cal" said Jane. "We do what your Aunt says or Adrianna gets killed right away" he explained, knowing that was Miriam's leverage over them. They had zero leverage.

"Exactly, good work Agent Jane!" said Miriam as she pulled over to the side of the road, the bridge straight ahead.

She got out and opened up the back doors to the van. Jane and Cal struggled to sit up as Miriam waved them outside with the gun in their faces. The bridge was devoid of traffic this time of the day. She had done her homework.

"You will do as I say or Adrianna will pay" she said as she cut through their zip ties, finally freeing their numb hands. "Now you will walk to the middle of the bridge Cal, holding your buddy here hostage. Then I guarantee the police will show up, guns at the ready to take you out if you don't back down. But you won't back down will you Cal? Instead you will mock them and make them believe that Agent Jane here is in the hands of a suicidal lunatic."

"I'm not suicidal Aunt Miriam. I don't want to die" said Cal, frightened now at the unfolding of her plan.

"Oh I know that honey but the cops don't. They will have to shoot you to save poor Agent Jane here. But he'll be caught in the crossfire and die as well, won't you Mr. Jane? You will be right in front of Cal and any shots fired will hit you first. Such a pity, such a waste of a very handsome man. And if you think I won't know what's going on, think again. There's the radio and there's this wonderful thing out there, everywhere. You may have heard of it? It's called the internet? I'm sure the whole sordid affair will be captured live on Youtube for the world to watch. "Live on Cable 73!" she laughed, mentioning the local TV cable news network.

"So you see, I don't have to be here to see what's going on. I can listen to the news, watch and see that you do exactly as I told you to do. Only then will Adrianna have a chance to live, when they find her, that is!"

She shoved Cal forward with the end of her gun, Jane keeping pace. His arm had stopped screaming and was now just throbbing along the long incision. The cut on the backside of his calf bled through his pant leg but with so much on his mind now, the pain barely registered. The sun was high directly overhead. Sweat was permeating Jane's beautifully cut suit jacket and he desperately wanted a cool drink. Cal was still wearing the black shirt and heavy black pants that he always wore when he went out snake catching, so his discomfort was equal to Jane's. To make matters worse, he was prematurely bald, so the sun would scald the pink skin on the top of his head within 20 minutes. As they reached the entrance to the bridge, Miriam told them to stop and wait. She placed the venom-laced knife on the ground behind Cal and backed away. When she was 10 feet behind them she told Cal to pick up the knife and hold it at Jane's throat. Cal looked at her in disbelief. How could he do that to this innocent man? But how could he not if it would help his sister to survive?

"Chop chop" barked Miriam. "Pick it up or Adri's a dead girl!"

Jane turned to Cal and nudged him with his shoulder. "Pick it up Calvin. It's OK. I understand. Do it and we'll figure something out."

"Listen to the smart man Calvin. Pick it up now!" shouted his Aunt.

Cal slowly reached down and grasped the knife. He immediately had the urge to straighten up and throw it at the crazy woman behind him like his heroes in the video games would do, but she had a gun and he had no idea how to throw a knife. Sighing at his inability to act in his own defence, he turned to face Jane, the knife held out awkwardly at an angle close to his neck.

"Now walk to the middle of the bridge and stay there until showtime" said Miriam as she walked back to the van. "I'll just place a call to notify the authorities about a suicidal man on the bridge with his poor hostage. You won't be alone for long" she laughed. "Then I'll be watching the whole drama play out. Adrianna's future is in your hands Calvin" she added.

Calvin and Jane walked onto the bridge and heard the van turn around and drive away behind them. Calvin's footsteps faltered but Jane kept walking.

"Do as she says Cal or Adrianna will pay for it" he encouraged his heart-sick companion.

"I can't do it ...I can't kill you, and I don't want to die because the cops think I'm crazy" he moaned.

"There's always a solution to every problem Calvin. Just work with me and maybe we can survive this together. Can you trust me on this?" said Jane, desperate to keep Calvin under control and willing to go along with whatever scheme Jane could come up with.

"I trust you Agent Jane."

High overhead, an FBI helicopter flew over the sprawling Hill Country, the search continuing for any and all beige vans. Several had been spotted and reported to police on the ground, but after a thorough inspection and questioning, the vans and their drivers were let go. In the city the same ritual played out, a maddeningly slow but necessary process if they wanted to find Cal's vehicle. As the helicopter above turned north, Miriam was driving south, back towards the shed. She picked up the burner phone she had bought months before and dialed in to the local radio station.

"Melissa speaking, All Talk Radio Hill Country...how may I help you?" said a bored voice.

"Oh my God...Oh my God! There's a man with a knife! I saw him! He's got a knife, and a hostage! You have to help him!" Miriam yelled dramatically into the phone.

"Ma'am...please, slow down. What man? Where?" asked the receptionist, suddenly alert and interested.

"On the bridge! County Road 114 just off the highway a bit. A young man has a knife and he's holding another man hostage. He was yelling something about killing him in front of the world" said Miriam breathlessly. "I saw it with my own two eyes!" She was quite the actress after all.

"I'll alert the police ma'am. Please stay on the line and I'll…"

Click.

The line went dead as Miriam hung up. Her message had been delivered. No sense letting them trace her call.

Jane and Cal trudged to the middle of the bridge. So far no one had approached in a car but as the afternoon wore on, school kids would be coming home, families would be crossing the bridge on their way to after-school activities. Soon, it would get busy.

"I can't do this. How can she make me do this!" muttered Cal, confused and hot and scared.

"Stay calm Calvin. I'm working on it" said Jane.

"Like hell you're working on it!" Cal yelled. "Just giving up isn't working on it!"

"Cal, relax. We can't do this alone. As soon as a crowd gathers, we will be in a better position to get out of this" Jane tried to explain to his frightened companion, but to no avail. Cal was starting to panic and hyperventilate. "By the way, do you have a piece of paper I can use?"

Cal stared at Jane as if he had lost his mind, but he felt around in his jeans and found a small piece of notepaper. Jane magically produced a tiny pen from his jacket and got busy writing something down on the notepaper.

"Just breathe Cal...just breathe. Take it slow, in and out" Jane said soothingly as he wrote. A car pulled up to the bridge and slowed down. The people in the car leaned out of their windows and eyed the two suspicious men on the bridge. Why would those men just stand there in the hot sun? Upon seeing a knife in Cal's hand the driver backed up and sped away in alarm. A few minutes later, the occupants of the car walked cautiously back to the end of the bridge and watched, eager to see what would happen next. Over the next 10 minutes the news began to filter out that something big was going down on the bridge, and the thrill seekers emerged from their homes and vehicles to gawk and speculate on what was happening. As the crowd grew, someone said that that guy on the bridge was an escaped killer. Someone else said he was a bank robber and was going to kill himself and that poor man on the bridge. The rumours flew and Cal could overhear what they were saying. Miriam was right, the whole world would soon label him as a crazy, suicidal killer. Jane turned to Cal to keep him calm.

"It's just talk Cal...they don't know what's happening. Let them talk. We know the truth and so does the FBI."

"No they don't! They don't know that Miriam is making us do this! How will that keep us alive Agent Jane?"

"Please, can you just call me Jane? I'm not an agent, but my partner is and she will understand that this is not what it appears to be. Work with me Cal, believe in me and my partner" Jane begged the jittery young man. Soon a cameraman from a local TV station appeared and a dark suited reporter began to speak into a microphone as the crowd swelled. Arms were raised overhead as the housewives and farmers and teenagers filmed everything on their cell phones. If Miriam wanted media coverage, she was getting it in spades.

Back at the FBI bullpen, Wylie was on the phone talking to a field agent when something caught his eye on his computer screen.

"Gotta go. Talk to you later man" he said distractedly, amazed at what he was looking at. There on the local news channel and Youtube was a live feed of a hostage taking in the centre of a bridge outside of Austin. Wylie leaned in and stared at the screen. As the blood drained from his face he reached for his phone, dialing Lisbon with a shaky hand.

Teresa and Cho were halfway to the shed according to the GPS when her cell phone rang.

"Wylie, please say you found the van" she said in greeting.

"Lisbon, turn around! Get back on the highway and take County Road 114 to a bridge over the Clark River, ten miles off the main road. I found Jane!"

"What? Say again?" she said putting her cell on speaker phone for Cho to hear. Wylie gave her the directions again. "Wylie, what's going on?" she shouted as Cho swung the SUV around.

"Some local news channel is broadcasting from a remote location. They've got cameras on a bridge and from what I can see online, Jane is in the middle of the bridge with another young man. Bald guy, early 20's? Oh geez Lisbon, he's holding a knife to Jane's throat!"

"That's Calvin Hoekstra. Call Abbot and the rest of the team and tell them I'll meet them there" Lisbon barked as she rang off and threw down her phone. What the hell had happened to Miriam and Adrianna? Was Calvin the killer all along? How could they have gotten it so wrong? Cho floored the SUV and they raced down the country road in a cloud of dust.

(The Shed)

Adrianna had tried to escape from her zip ties until her wrists were a bloody mess. There was no way out and any time now her Aunt would return to do God knew what to her. She leaned back against the table leg and waited, knowing the end was coming. She had no faith that her Aunt would let her live, even if Cal did everything he was told. If Cal could just somehow survive long enough to tell the police what his Aunt had done, then perhaps justice still might be served even if she and Cal died today. Her thoughts turned to poor Agent Jane. He would die too, just because he wanted to find her family's killer. So many deaths at the hands of a woman no one would suspect. The thought of it made Adri weep once again in frustration.

The sound of a vehicle slamming on its brakes made her sit up and stop crying. Maybe the police had found her! Praying to see a blue uniform come through the door, she sank back in bitter disappointment when Miriam rushed into the small shed.

"Up up up!" she barked, cutting the long tie securing Adri to the table leg. "Time to go."

"Where's Cal?" asked Adri as her Aunt shoved her towards the door.

"Sunbathing" laughed Miriam as she shoved Adrianna across the sandy ground towards the van. She held the side door of the van open and forced Adrianna inside at gunpoint.

Miriam ran around the vehicle and jammed the keys into the ignition. The van pulled out in a wild circle of dust and took off down a small path just barely wide enough for a car to traverse through the sand and brush.

"Where are you taking me?" asked Adri.

"Doesn't matter. Shut up" said Miriam, concentrating on her plan. Idle chatter was just distracting.

She drove another 15 minutes then stopped the car at a rocky outcropping. She hopped down out of the van and ran around to pull Adrianna out of the front seat.

"Walk!"

Adrianna marched ahead of Miriam's gun through a rough trail someone had carved out of the harsh terrain for another 10 minutes. When they reached a broken fence bordering the back end of a huge ranch, Miriam forced her to climb over it and head for an abandoned well.

"This is where we part company" said Miriam. "Get in."

Adri looked into the well and could see a bit of water about 30 feet down. If she managed to survive the fall to the bottom, there was no way she would get back up with her hands tied behind her back. After 14 or 16 more hours the venom in her system would kill her if no one found her.

"Tante Miriam, please, don't do this! You can have the company, I don't want it. Neither does Calvin. You should have inherited it Tante. Take me back to Austin and I'll sign papers giving the company to you. Please Tante Miriam!" she begged.

Miriam considered her offer, which was very appealing. But it was too little too late.

"Sorry liefste, but it will be mine by the end of the day. Thank you anyway!'" she said as she gave Adri a swift push, sending her tumbling in a freefall to the bottom of the well. Adrianna let out a bloodcurdling scream that echoed across the valley. Miriam looked down into the well and could just make out the shape of the young woman, half sitting and half lying in the cold water 30 feet down, her eyes closed.

"Bye liefste" said Miriam without remorse as she stepped over the fence and got back into the van. No one would find the girl now and Miriam wouldn't mourn her. She had already scrubbed her from her mind because she had another, more spectacular event to enact, and then her day would be a complete success.


	18. The Great Pretender

I thought I'd put up a chapter before the weekend. Enjoy!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 18

The Great Pretender

The crowd standing at either end of the bridge was salivating for something thrilling to happen. A Ford truck pulled up with a rancher and his two sons. They stepped out with a large baying coonhound straining on the end of a leash, desperate to be set free. Several people in the crowd seemed to know him and wanted him to set his dog loose on the men on the bridge.

"Set old Buzzard loose Wardell! Let'em chew on those terrorists!" yelled an old man. The mob hurled curses and threats at Cal and Jane, not caring who they were or why they were on the bridge. All the agitated spectators knew was that those two men didn't belong and were a threat to everything the crowd held dear and understood. As the crowd grew rowdier, a police car pulled up with dramatically screeching tires, amid catcalls of derision from the gawkers.

"About time you boys got here!"

"Got sick of dunkin' your donuts in coffee boys?"

"Just keep that dog tied up and we'll get along fine Wardell!" said Sheriff Clemson Arkell.

"Give me a gun Sheriff, I'll take care of 'em!" shouted an excited teenager.

Several black SUVs pulled up right behind the Sheriff and Abbott, Cho and Lisbon pushed their way through the mob of onlookers.

"Get these people back! Move'em outta here!" barked Abbott, disgusted at their voyeurism.

Turning to face the bridge, he joined Cho and Lisbon as they stared in amazement at the scene in front of them. Just as Wylie had told them, Calvin was holding a knife on Jane. Jane was bent over forward, the knife pressed to the top of his spine. Calvin was standing perfectly still and looked like he was under a great amount of stress. Cho spoke up, calm in the face of chaos.

"How's it going?" Cho called out conversationally to the men at the centre of the maelstrom. "How can we help you resolve this problem?"

"Shut the fuck up and go away!" warned the man in black. He was terrified, that was clear. His companion dared to turn his head fractionally and stared at the fire power assembled at the end of the bridge. His eyes grew larger when he noticed the Federal Agents staring back at him.

"May I?" he whispered to his captor bravely. "Can't hardly hurt just about now, wouldn't you agree?"

Cal wanted to believe that Jane would get them out of this alive, but facing the crowd and the assembled lawmen, guns at the ready, he felt sure his life was about to end. He reluctantly nodded his assent to let Jane speak. Jane slowly straightened up as Cal moved the knife to the side of his neck. If Miriam was indeed watching, he was doing a masterful job of looking like a killer.

"Are you alright Sir?" yelled Abbott to the hostage. Lisbon just kept her gun aimed squarely at the young kidnapper's forehead, her aim true.

The hostage cleared his throat but dared not move an inch, as the poisoned end of the knife was still within striking distance of his jugular vein. To everyone watching, it looked as if he could die at any moment. Was Miriam convinced too?

"Ahh...yes...I'm alright. Just peachy. A bit thirsty but otherwise we're just fine. Thanks for asking!" he added brightly. His message was meant to convey fear but also calmness. He hoped it was understood by the assembled law enforcement personnel, especially Abbott, Cho and Lisbon. After all, he had absolutely no cards left to play to get himself out of this mess, not unless he could get the FBI and the local police to buy into his plan.

"We need water. Water if you can!" Jane shouted to Cho, but looking directly at Lisbon. She understood his intent and spoke quietly to Cho and Abbott. They nodded in agreement and spoke to the uniformed police officers behind them. A few minutes later a bottle of water was handed to Lisbon. She made a show of placing her gun down on the road, then straightened up slowly, unarmed. She walked cautiously towards the middle of the bridge. The gawkers who had been forced to move away from the bridge by the Sheriff's deputies were slowly working their way back into position, keen to see this tragedy play out.

Lisbon got to within three feet of Jane and Cal, then she held out the water. Jane leaned forward while Cal kept the knife on him and took both bottle, brushing her hand in the transaction. Lisbon felt something rustle in her palm and she put it into her pocket without looking at it. Stepping back, Jane opened the bottle, taking a long draw of the cool liquid, then he held it out, offering it to Cal, who took it with his free hand and quickly swallowed a bit, afraid to lose his grip on the knife. The police on the bridge looked for a chance to fire.

"So, how can we help you get off the bridge Cal?" said Lisbon as calmly as possible. Cal was shaking visibly, his nerves getting the best of him.

"I don't want to die" he said softly.

"I don't want you to die either Calvin, so help me to help you" Lisbon replied.

"You OK?" she asked Jane with concern, seeing for herself that his face and arm were a bloody mess, but he was still standing - a good sign. She hadn't even noticed his bloody pant leg. She had to keep calm and help them get off the bridge and not focus on Jane's injuries. One thing at a time...

"Couldn't be better" he lied, as usual.

"Who's running the show Jane?" Lisbon asked, keeping her eye on Cal and his knife.

"Miriam, she's watching, so this is for her entertainment. She's got Adrianna in a shed in the hill country" said Jane tersely. Lisbon would dispatch officers immediately to drive out and find the shed. Once she was disarmed, they could arrest Miriam and set Adrianna free. But for now, here on the bridge, they had to do what Miriam wanted.

From the sidelines the crowd was getting restless, they wanted a shootout or something equally exciting, and Cho and Abbott were wondering what Jane, Cal and Lisbon were discussing on the bridge. After another minute, Lisbon nodded her head to something Jane said and slowly walked back to the waiting group of agents at the end of the bridge.

"Shoot'em!" someone yelled.

"Yeah, shoot the bastard!" echoed someone else, rousing the crowd as it all was filmed for posterity.

"Quiet! Officers get those people outta here!" yelled the Sheriff to his backup.

The deputies surged through the unmoving mass of onlookers forcing them to move farther away again. This was Texas. There were guns on some of these folks, that was a given. Preventing them from using them if they felt the law wasn't doing their job was going to be a problem. The situation on the bridge couldn't be allowed to go on too much longer. Lisbon walked back to Cho and Abbott, the item Jane had thrust into her palm burning a hole in her pocket. She was desperate to see what Jane had slipped to her. Once enfolded in the crowd of Agents, she reached into her pocket and withdrew the small piece of paper. What she read caused her head to shoot up in shock as she stared at Jane.

"No.." she mouthed, unwilling to do what he asked of her.

Jane nodded 'yes' ever so slightly…'do it Lisbon'.

An angry shout from somewhere deep in the crowd made the police rush a man with a pistol in his hand. Things were starting to fall apart.

"I'll shoot the son of a bitch if you boys don't have the balls to do your job!" shouted the surly farmer. This was his bridge goddammit!

'Oh God...Jane's right' realized Lisbon, seeing what Jane had feared start to play out. This was going to end badly unless the FBI and police made a shocking move.

Lisbon called Abbott, Cho, the other agents and the Sheriff over and they formed a small huddle far away from prying eyes. Judging from the outraged responses Lisbon got, Jane could see that his plan would be a very hard sell. Cal was swaying in the heat, his grip on the knife getting tighter and tighter in his hand.

"Make it look good Cal" Jane reminded him. Cal grabbed Jane and pulled him in close to his own body, the knife at his throat once again. A sudden gasp from the crowd caused the cops to look back at Cal and Jane and lift their weapons, ready to take young Cal out if only Jane wasn't blocking their shot. Lisbon had a hurried conversation with her group of officers again, until one by one consensus was reached, and they agreed to do what she said. Abbott, Lisbon and Cho left the bridge and went to their vehicle. They returned shortly, prepared for a battle. The other police officers were informed of the plan and gradually did the same. Jane watched carefully and when Lisbon nodded, he knew the next few minutes would either save he and Cal, or they would die here, now.

When all of the officers were once again facing Jane and Calvin, their weapons raised and aimed squarely at both of them, Jane took the chance to shove against his captor, trying it seemed, to get free. Calvin was becoming more agitated. Cal started to yell at the crowd, telling them to leave him alone. The fear in his voice was real. The crowd jeered back, hurling catcalls and insults at the men on the bridge. Jane raised his hands in a gesture of supplication, asking everyone to just calm down. The crowd roared again and Jane gazed at Lisbon, a sad smile on his face. He tried to memorize her worried, beautiful face.

Then, everything went to hell.

Jane suddenly lunged away from Cal, and attempted to run to safety. As he moved quickly to catch his hostage, Cal raised his knife to stab Jane to prevent him from escaping. The cops on the bridge saw their chance to take out the lunatic and opened fire. A thundering volley of gunfire exploded in a billowing cloud of smoke. The bullets flew everywhere, some going wild but most hitting their target. Aim was obscured by smoke and although Cal was the target, he was not the only one gunned down. As the bullets slammed into their bodies, Cal and Jane were thrown back against the railing of the bridge, then fell onto the hard road, bucking spasmodically as more rounds were shot into them.

Someone finally called for a ceasefire and the shooting gradually came to a stop. When the smoke cleared, a hush fell over the baying crowd. The reality of the drama in front of them suddenly hit them full force. This was real, not TV, not a video game that you can just play over and over again. They had witnessed a shootout to the death. The police stared at the carnage they had wrought. The kidnapper and his unfortunate hostage lay crumpled on the bridge pavement. Both the suicidal kidnapper and his victim had been killed in this cruel conclusion to the standoff.

Miriam was listening to the van radio and jammed on the brakes when the shocked announcer who had been delivering a blow by blow description of the scene on the bridge spoke in horrified, hushed tones.

"The standoff on the Clark River Bridge has come to a tragic conclusion as the deranged young man with a knife attacked his hostage in a savage frenzy. The assembled police officers fired at the young man to prevent him from running into the crowd and attacking more innocent citizens. Unfortunately, the hostage was hit with one or more rounds of ammunition and is lying still on the bridge. From this vantage point, it appears that both men have died, here, on the Clark River Bridge. Stay tuned for more eyewitness reports" he said solemnly.

The reporter delighted in revealing the grim news of the deaths to his rapt radio audience. As the reality of the success of her plan sank in, Miriam started up the van, smiling broadly. The drama on the bridge had played out exactly as she had hoped, better in fact! Cal had been killed by the police and Jane had been caught in the crossfire. Now no one would discover her part in all of this!

By the time she got to the shed again, Miriam was buzzing with excitement. Parking hastily, she ran to the small building and yanked the door open. Just one more part of the plan to complete and then she would call this day a total success!

As the crowd cheered and back slapped each other in triumph, seeing the 'terrorists' slain by the good guys, Lisbon stared at the two bodies lying like rag dolls on the bridge. Cal was curled up in a ball, his knife flung out and away from his hand when he dropped to the ground. Jane lay on his stomach, his arms and legs akimbo and his face turned towards the pavement. A sharp pain of anguish stabbed Lisbon's heart as she pushed her way through the crowd of agents and police officers towards Patrick's inert body.

Above the mingled voices of the spectators and officers a voice rang out in celebration.

"I shot the fucker! Me! I shot that fucker!" an elated man yelled. It was a wizened old man, a gun raised above his head like a trophy. Lisbon barely noticed him or the rush of officers as they ran to surround him and wrest his gun out of his hands. She was focussed on getting to Cal and Jane. Instead of being thanked by law enforcement, the older man was put in handcuffs and dragged to a police cruiser as the crowd booed his removal. He was a hero!

The police followed protocol and pushed the crowd back, then placed a canvas screen around the bodies on the bridge to keep prying eyes off the grotesque scene of death.

Lisbon ran to the still body, falling to her knees as she placed her hand on Jane's back.

"Jane, it's OK. It's over. You can get up now" she said as she rubbed his back. He didn't move.

"C'mon Jane, stop fooling around, the plan worked. Get up" she said a little more sharply, concern edging into her mind. "No one's watching now!"

Cal lay still. Cho stood over him and tapped him on the back.

"It's over, you can get up now, no one's looking" he told the young man. Cal opened his eyes and smiled at the group of officers grinning at him.

"How'd I do?" Cal asked them. "Was I crazy enough for you?"

"You did great" smiled Cho, extending a hand to help Cal to his feet.

As Cal stood up, a long keening cry came from where Jane lay.

"Jane! Wake up! Jane! Oh my God Dennis, they shot Jane!"

Cho and Abbott ran over to a distraught Lisbon who was still trying to rouse Jane. A cop signalled for the arranged ambulances to drive onto the bridge.

"C'mon buddy, open your eyes" said Cho, dropping down next to his friend, scared now too. A pool of blood was forming under Jane's head, creating a crimson halo. Cho checked the pulse point in Jane's neck and sighed in relief. Jane was breathing! No amount of shaking could get a response from him however. Abbott and Cho turned him over gently, keeping his neck immobile and they all gasped when they saw the blood running down Jane's face. There was a raw red bullet wound on the side of Jane's head, above his ear. Cal stared at Jane in shock. This wasn't supposed to happen!

Lisbon stared up at Abbott. "They were supposed to use blanks Dennis. Blanks! Someone used real bullets!" she said in disbelief.

Jane's plan had been to swap the ammunition in the guns of all of the law enforcement officers from bullets to blanks. At a signal from Jane, the cops would fire at Cal and Jane as they struggled on the bridge, fulfilling Miriam's plan without really killing anyone. But someone didn't use blanks. Dennis studied his friend's still and bloodied face with anguish. If it turned out to be one of Abbott's agents, he'd have his badge and his career would be over, at the very least.

"I need every gun from every officer confiscated - now!" shouted Abbott.

The EMT's had arrived with gurneys and were admitted behind the privacy screen. Cal was put on one to keep up the charade that he had been killed, and so he lay back with a white sheet drawn up over his face. He was taken to an ambulance for a checkup at the hospital as a precaution.

As the other gurney was pushed up to Jane's body, Lisbon continued to speak to him, willing him to wake up and smile and say it was all part of the plan. Brushing his hair out of his eyes, she leaned down to whisper to the love of her life.

"Please don't die Jane."

"Sorry Ma'am, we need to get him to a hospital" said an EMT as they secured Jane to the bed and rolled him to the waiting ambulance behind the screen. The cops at the end of the bridge had corralled all eye witnesses to the event on the bridge and searched them for weapons. A few were found and confiscated, to check to see if one of them had fired the shot that hit Jane. Very soon it became apparent that they were cold and had not been fired. The old man handcuffed in the cruiser was getting verbally abusive at his treatment. As far as he was concerned he'd done the cops a favour by helping bring down those two terrorists. His gun was examined and appeared to have been fired, recently. Ballistic testing would soon confirm that he was indeed the man who shot Jane, when a blood covered slug was found embedded in the wooden railing of the bridge. It matched his gun. Whatever good the old man thought he accomplished would be secondary to the fact that he would be charged with attempted second degree murder.

Both ambulances backed up and raced off the bridge with their patients. Once far enough away from the bridge so that no one could see inside the vehicle, Cal sat up and smiled. An FBI agent accompanied him to the hospital where his laceration would be stitched up and he would receive an anti-venom shot before the coral snake venom damaged his body. There was no way Cal had thought the day would end this way. Then his thoughts turned to his friend Jane. Would he die, just like his Aunt had hoped? And what about his sister Adrianna?

Miriam still had her.


	19. Rescue Me

Thanks for all the great reviews and conversations. You make my day! Welcome back from the weekend. Time to see what happened to Jane and Cal.

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 19

Rescue Me

Lisbon ran alongside the gurney and watched as Jane was loaded into the ambulance, his face ashen and still. Before the doors were slammed shut she stepped inside to go with him. As an EMT protested, she held up her badge and any objection to her presence ended. A flurry of hands worked on Jane, checking his vitals and recording all his stats. An EMT checked Jane's face, neck and scalp, where some blood was pooling. Tracing the path of the bullet gently with his fingertip, the medic called out the type of injury to Jane's head.

"Got it!" said the EMT. "GSW to the head, shallow entry. Skull seems intact, no depressions."

Shining a light into Jane's eyes, he found signs of a concussion. All of his other vitals were good, but they would have to watch their patient for shock.

"Please, how is he?" Teresa asked.

"He's holding his own, and he's a strong man. That's a good sign" said the EMT tersely, unwilling to promise Lisbon too much good news in case his patient suddenly started to fail.

A large compress was taped over the bullet wound in Jane's head and his jacket and shirt were cut off him. Another bandage was placed on the laceration caused by the butt of Miriam's gun. Bruising was already beginning to spread out over Jane's cheek and temple. The large laceration in his arm looked ugly and painful. The EMT's cleaned the injury as well as they could then covered it with a sterile dressing. An IV line was started, pumping fluids into Jane to stabilize him until he could be treated more thoroughly in the hospital. Throughout it all Lisbon never took her eyes off Patrick, willing him to wake up and say everything was going to be fine. But not this time. She was frightened to death that Jane's luck had finally run out and she would lose him after all these years.

The only good thing Lisbon could see was that Jane was breathing evenly, and for that she was grateful.

Back at the bridge, Abbott reluctantly had to resume his search for Miriam and Adrianna even as he worried about Jane. The bridge was cleared of people not necessary to the investigation after names were taken for follow-up interviews. Ballistics investigators were searching for bullet fragments or the whole bullet to determine which gun had been used to shoot Jane. The old man sat in the back of the cruiser, immensely proud of himself as the crowd of onlookers remaining cheered as he was driven away. He felt like a hero.

(The Shed)

Miriam was thrilled with the outcome of her plan. Adrianna would be dead long before she was discovered, if she was ever discovered. Cal was dead at the hands of the police, as was that handsome FBI agent. The announcer on the radio had described the scene on the bridge in all its gory splendor. Miriam had emerged victorious after all of the slights and injustices she had suffered throughout the years. She was the ultimate winner after all. Now she just had one more trick to pull off, a risky one but necessary to confirm that she was a victim in the eyes of the law before they came looking for her.

Miriam took a cloth and wrapped it around the handle of a sharp knife. Dipping the blade into the snake venom once again, she watched the liquid drip off the razor sharp edge. Taking a deep breath, she dragged the blade through her skin on her forearm. Watching the blood run down her fingers, she smiled at her cleverness. Leaving the pan of venom to be found by the police, she threw the cloth in the garbage and left the knife to be discovered. Taking one last look around the shed, she stepped outside and got into Cal's van for one last trip. Miriam's plan required her to ditch the van and start walking towards town. A few miles down the road she found the perfect spot to leave the evidence of her frantic escape. She made sure to drip plenty of her blood on the steering wheel and seat, then drove the van into a large outcropping of rocks, damaging the front end. Throwing the keys away, she turned and walked in the direction of the highway. She had a good hour before any harm would occur from the snake venom, then several more hours before it became too late to counteract the poison with anti-venom. She felt safe and secure in her belief that she would be fine. High overhead, helicopters flew over the land, furtive eyes searching for the missing beige van. Sooner or later the police knew they would find it, but would they find Adrianna and her Aunt as well?

Abbott and Cho were done on the bridge. Both were angry and exasperated. Their friend Jane had been shot, how badly they didn't know, by some asshole with a gun who felt he was better than all the police and FBI agents combined. Jane had pulled off a brilliantly simple plan to save Calvin and himself in order to fool Miriam, but an asshole with a gun permit had ruined everything. Abbott would make sure the full weight of the law was brought against the old man as a warning to anyone else who wanted to play vigilante in the future.

Getting into their SUV, Cho and Abbott headed towards Austin to check on Jane. While Cho drove Abbott got on his cell phone, barking out orders to his men in the field to redouble their efforts to find the two missing women.

(The Well)

Adrianna lay half submerged in the cold water at the bottom of the well. Gradually she began to regain consciousness and looked around herself in shock. With panic she remembered what had happened to her and that her Aunt had left her for dead. Gazing up into the sky, Adri could see that the sun was no longer directly overhead, so she couldn't judge just how long she had been in the abandoned well. As her mind became clearer she felt overwhelmed with pain, unlike she had ever felt before. The cold water helped to dull the pain somewhat, but upon trying to get her legs underneath her to stand up, Adrianna collapsed in agony. Her leg was broken.

"Help me! Somebody please help me! I'm here in the well!" she shouted to anyone who might be near. Her voice echoed off the dry walls and bounced off the water in the bottom of the narrow pit.

"Anybody! Help! Help me!" she screamed. Who would bother to be out here, so far from the highway and at the back of some enormous ranch? She had seen that the fence was broken, so obviously no one had come around for a very long time. That thought drained hope of rescue from her but she had to try to attract attention regardless. She looked at the venom soaked incision across her arm and knew that her rescue had a hard time limit attached to it. After 18 hours, she'd be dead anyway. She called and pleaded and cried for help, to God, to her dead mother, to anyone who might be out there for any reason. She resolved to call for help until she no longer had breath left in her lungs. She had no other choice.

(Austin General Hospital)

As Adrianna lay in the well, desperate for a way to escape, both Cal and Jane had arrived at the hospital. Cal appeared to be Ok, but submitted to a checkup from the ER doctor. When asked to remove his shirt, the cloth stuck to the congealed blood on his lacerated arm and Cal hissed in pain as he remembered the knife slicing through his soft flesh. The afternoon had been so intense for him that he had forgotten about the venom soaked knife attack. Remembering that Jane and Adrianna had also been cut, he started to babble to the doctor who was trying to examine him.

"I'm OK, really, except for this!" Cal said, showing his arm to the doctor and his nurse. "I need an anti-venom shot for a coral snake bite. This is a knife wound and the knife was soaked in coral snake venom. Another patient was just brought in, a Federal Agent named Patrick Jane. He has a cut on his leg that's also poisoned with coral snake venom. He needs treatment as well, and fast! We've already had to wait for almost 3 hours!" he said in a jumbled rush.

"Calm down sir, calm down...now what is all this about snakes and knives?" the tired doctor said, sure he had an hysterical patient on his hands.

"The knife used on me was soaked in snake venom, coral snake venom! I need an injection now!" barked Cal. The doctor moved to examine the wound on his arm but seemed skeptical of the story Cal told. Calling for the agent outside the door, Cal explained his story again, demanding that someone listen to him.

"Look, I collect snakes as a hobby and capture them for a snake rescue group. I know what the hell I'm talking about! Now get the fucking anti-venom injections ready for me and Mr. Jane. Time is slipping away!" he shouted.

"Do it!" said the FBI agent. "And inform Mr. Jane's doctor as well!"

Seeing that he had no other choice, the doctor ordered blood tests and the injections. Usually patients came in with puncture marks from fangs or a clear set of teeth marks as was the case with coral snakes, not venom infected knife wounds. Would wonders never cease?

A half hour later Cal had received his injection and knew he would be safe from the venom's effects. As for Jane, no one had told him if he was alive or dead. He owed his life to that man. A loud discussion outside his cubicle alerted him to Abbott's presence.

"In here Agent Abbott!" Cal called. Cho and Abbott stepped inside and waited for the medical staff to leave.

"How are you Mr. Hoekstra? No injuries from your adventure on the bridge I hope?" said Abbott.

"Just this, but Miriam did this to me" said Calvin, pointing to his bandaged arm. "She stabbed Mr. Jane as well. I told the doctor but I want you to promise me you'll make sure Mr. Jane gets the injections he needs."

"Injections? For what?" asked Cho, worried anew.

Calvin explained the scene in the shed and how everyone had been slashed. Time was not their friend as the venom would race through Jane's system until he got the injection he needed. As for Adrianna, if she was not found before morning, he warned the agents that she would die.

"As soon as the hospital releases you, I want you to go with this agent and wait for us at the FBI office. You're not under arrest Mr. Hoekstra, but we do need to ask you questions about your Aunt. If you aren't feeling well, make sure you let this agent know and we will provide medical treatment for you immediately" said Cho, concerned about the venom in Cal's system, injection or no injection.

"Anything I can do to help…" said Cal, following the agent out of the ER department.

Abbott and Cho left in search of Jane. Flashing their badges granted them access to areas normally not open to visitors. Inside the inner sanctum of the ER they found a doctor and demanded to know where Jane had been taken. Five minutes later they approached a curtained cubicle down the hallway and were pleased to see Lisbon sitting outside, looking shaken. Seeing the two big men she stood up and hugged them both. 

"Dennis, Cho, thanks for coming."

"How's Jane?" asked Dennis, looking towards the blue curtains.

"Alive! That's the most important thing, right?" Lisbon smiled weakly, wiping away a tear.

"The EMT's said it was a shallow bullet wound to the head but he's unconscious, at least he was when he was brought in. I'm just waiting for the doctor to finish examining him."

"We've got some news for you too. Cal just told us that the knife wound on Jane's leg is infected with coral snake venom. Has anyone told the doctor yet?" asked Cho.

"Snake venom! Oh God no! Ah...I don't know Cho. We have to tell him!" Lisbon said in a panic.

The curtain was pulled back and an older doctor approached the three agents. "Are you family members?" he asked, looking from one face to another.

"Yes!" said Teresa, because after all these years, they were family.

"OK, well then, Mr. Jane is a very lucky man. He has suffered a gunshot wound to the head but fortunately it did not penetrate the skull. He also has a large gash in his temple, looks like he was hit with something, maybe a pipe or a gun from the shape of the wound. He has a moderate concussion and will require complete rest for a week or two at the very least. He also has a deep laceration on his upper arm that will require several stitches to close and keep out infection. He will recover well from that injury. We found another knife laceration on his leg and will close that wound as well."

"He needs anti-venom injections for a coral snake bite" said Abbott.

"I found no bite marks on Mr. Jane's body" said the doctor in confusion.

"Not an actual bite. The venom was on the knife used to slice his leg. He needs that injection immediately" said the big black man.

"We have to be sure though…" said the doctor.

"We are. Another patient also had the same injury and he told us about it. He knows" said Lisbon.

"Well, Ok then. I'll order blood tests and prepare the injection for Mr. Jane. How long ago was he bitten,er, rather, injected with the venom?"

"About 3 hours ago. He'll be alright though, won't he?" asked Teresa, worried now about snake venom as well as Jane's other injuries.

"He'll be fine, really. He's starting to come around, been asking for a Teresa on and off." The doctor smiled at Lisbon. "I expect that's you" he said kindly. "Go in and sit with him as he wakes up. I'll get his shot ready. Thank you for telling me. You can go right in" said the doctor as he rushed off to get the anti-venom shot ready.

Lisbon parted the curtains as Abbott and Cho peeked into the small cubicle. Seeing Jane alive and looking better, they left Lisbon to be with her man. They had work to do.

(County Road 114)

Miriam had been walking for miles and was miserable. She was hot and thirsty and fed up with this charade, but in order to be believed, she had to look like Cal had mistreated her and left her to die. She could wait for a bottle of water and a good rest once she had been discovered and taken to a hospital for an anti-venom shot. Then she would give the police a story they would have to believe when all the evidence was gathered together.

A school bus rumbled down the road towards her and she stepped aside to let it pass. The kids inside pulled faces at Miriam and gave her the finger, laughing hysterically.

'Miserable kids' she thought, happy she had never had children of her own. 'Ungrateful rug rats" she mused, looking at the red tail lights receding in the distance. Another quarter mile down the road she was passed by a young man on a motorcycle, who gave the bedraggled woman a wide berth. She could have flagged him down, but that was not the kind of ride she wanted. No, she would hold out for just the right person to scoop her up. The helicopter overhead moved slowly through the cloudless sky and headed towards the hills. Somewhere out there was a woman holding a girl hostage. The pilot saw Miriam below and thought nothing of the lone woman strolling down the country road, seemingly in no distress.

Miriam walked on and on, her legs getting tired and her mouth dry as dust. The temperature had to be close to 100 degrees this time of the day and she desperately wanted to get inside, into an air conditioned room. A quiet engine behind her signalled a newer model car and she swung around to see who was coming towards her. To her delight it was a Sheriff's deputy in his black and white cruiser, just finishing his shift. As he drove past her Miriam started to wave her arms frantically as she ran after the cruiser. The young officer saw the older woman run after him and stumble, then fall in the dust. He slammed on the brakes and backed up. Leaping out of his car he ran over to the distraught woman and found her lying on the road, her hair a mess and her arm bleeding from a nasty cut.

"Ma'am! Ma'am...are you alright? What happened to you?" he asked her, worried about how she came to be in such a terrible state.

Looking at the caring young man with as much terror in her face as she could manage, Miriam whispered to her rescuer.

"Thank God you found me. He's going to kill me…" she said as she slumped into his outstretched arms. As she feigned being faint, he got on his shoulder radio and called for help, for an ambulance. While he waited he gently laid Miriam on the ground, then grabbed a bottle of water from his car and offered it to the semi-conscious woman. He gathered Miriam up in his arms and helped her with the bottle. Miriam feebly held it with his help and took a small sip. Falling back into his arms, she relished her role as the tragic victim.

Miriam also thought the handsome young cop smelled delicious.


	20. Running Out of Time

Sorry, I put up the wrong chapter! Here's chapter 20! Thanks everyone for letting me know.

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 20

Running Out of Time

The black FBI SUV raced down the country roads following GPS directions to Cal's snake shed. The agents had been warned that Miriam was armed and extremely dangerous and that most likely she had Adrianna trapped inside the shed with her. This could turn out to be another bloodbath if they didn't handle the situation correctly. Two other police cars followed closely behind, to offer support in the takedown of this looney bitch. Abbott wished he was there to coordinate the attack on the shed, but he was needed in Austin now, to debrief Cal and Jane, should he awaken and be well enough to tell the FBI agent his story. For now, Abbott had to have faith that his men would be able to handle their suspect and bring her in, alive and in shackles. As for Adrianna, he prayed they had found her in time.

The SUV slowed down and parked a short distance from the old wooden shed. The police cars parked close by and all of the officers gathered to construct an attack plan. The agents and officers surrounded the building and crept as close as they dared. There was no sign of the beige van. Did that mean the building was empty? Or did Miriam abandon the vehicle and plan to hide in the shed until the heat was off her and she could slip away in the night? The agents crept up to the dirt encrusted window and held a mirror up to see inside the shed. A long dusty table held various tools of the snake catching trade, and a shallow pan with a knife next to it lay on the table, but no people could be seen inside. Listening closely, the cops detected no footsteps or cries for help. At a signal from the senior agent in charge, two FBI agents charged the front door while the other cops surrounded the building to catch anyone who tried to escape through a window or by any other means of escape.

Running inside with their guns drawn, the agents were confronted with a disappointing scene. While cut zip ties lying on the ground indicated that someone had recently been there as a hostage, they were too late. Where had Miriam gone with Adrianna?

The disappointed senior agent called Abbott with the bad news. They were once again at a loss as to where the woman would go with her niece. Abbott told them to scour the countryside for the missing women. The tracks left by the van in the sand would help to lead the team in the direction Miriam took, until the trail ran out in a combination of scrub brush, gravel and soil too loose to cast a tire imprint. But at least they had a starting point to follow. Abbott then contacted the pilot of the helicopter flying somewhere over the Hill Country to redouble his efforts to spot either the van or women walking somewhere out on the back roads.

(Austin General Hospital)

Teresa stood by Jane's bed and reached for his face. Running her palm down his cheek, she leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss. A hand came up and cradled the back of her neck and pulled her down closer while Jane deepened the kiss. When Lisbon straightened up, Jane was gazing up into her face.

"Hi" she said softly. "Welcome back."

"Good to be back."

"You had me scared Patrick. We thought we'd lost you...I'd lost you."

Jane took his time to respond, such was his unbalanced state. He was feeling very woozy, as if he was riding a whirling teacup at Disneyland. He cautiously looked around at his curtained corner of the ER and had no idea what had happened after he and Cal tussled on the bridge. Everything after that was a blank.

"Why? What happened? Why am I here?" asked Jane, unaware of his injuries.

Lisbon shook her head ever so slightly, a tell Jane noticed, even in his concussed state.

"Something went wrong on the bridge. Is Cal dead?" Jane guessed sadly, still not understanding that he was the one who almost died.

"Cal is just fine. Your plan worked really well and I think we convinced everyone, especially Miriam, that you both got killed in the crossfire."

Jane tried to think for a moment. Yes, there had to be a firefight. It must have happened, not that he remembered now.

"But something went wrong. What is it Teresa?" Jane asked. Teresa grasped Patrick's hand and sat down close to his side. She had to just tell him, there was no way to sugar coat his injuries.

"Jane, during the gunfight, you got shot in the head You have a concussion and need to rest for a few weeks."

A look of shock crossed Jane's face. "I did?" He ran his fingers over his head and winced when they found the tender gouge in his scalp where a large bandage now encircled his head.

"How did that happen? Didn't the police use dummy rounds when they shot at us?" he asked with incredulity. "That was the agreed upon plan!" The room was swaying dangerously.

"They followed the plan Jane, but a farmer in the crowd went all Rambo on us and decided to help the police by shooting too. His gun had real bullets in it I'm afraid."

"Ah yes...Texas, land of the free and home of the well armed…" muttered Jane. He was having a harder and harder time focussing his eyes on Lisbon's face.

"He's under arrest and will be charged with attempted second degree murder. If he wasn't such a bad shot you could have died Patrick! I was so scared when I saw you lying on the bridge. I thought you were gone…" she added quietly, kissing his hand.

"Sorry I scared you Teresa" Patrick said sadly. There was no way he wanted any more personal sadness to hurt his beloved Teresa. Jane lay back against his pillows, the reality of his near death by a vigilante a frightening revelation. Gripping the railing of the bed, he held on, sure that one wrong move would cause him to fall out of the bed. He hoped Teresa didn't notice.

"Can you tell me anything else about what happened to you Patrick?" Teresa asked gently, seeing the distress on his face. Jane closed his eyes and let his memory bank scroll through the day. The doors to his memories were hard to open, his thought processes stubbornly refusing to cooperate without a fight. He had to relax, breathe deeply, unlock some doors. Gradually his mind started to clear, while Teresa waited and watched, knowing he was working hard to give her an answer. When his eyes opened, she knew he had found what he needed. Jane had remembered the rest of his day as Miriam's prisoner.

"Miriam slashed me with a knife in Adrianna's kitchen when I went to search their place, then she kidnapped all of us and took us in Cal's van. I tried to leave you a clue."

"We found it Patrick, good thinking. We were wondering how that all went down. I went to the house and looked for you...there was so much blood…" Teresa said, remembering the crime scene she had discovered that morning. "So it was always Miriam?" Teresa asked, getting a grip on her emotions. Jane sighed heavily, not daring to nod his head 'yes'.

"It's a long story, but yes, she's the one we need to find. She killed Herman and Miriam Hoekstra in Amsterdam and Klaas and Henny in the fire at their house. She may have planned on killing Cal and Adrianna eventually too, until I got in her way." Jane closed his eyes, trying to stop the spins from scrambling his thoughts. He was so damned tired.

"God, who would have suspected Miriam was capable of doing that to her parents and her own brother?" said Teresa with disbelief. Jane struggled to open his eyes and warn Teresa about the evidence back at the Hoekstra house.

"The FBI needs to shut down Adrianna's house and not let anyone inside. There's evidence in Miriam's room that will prove she killed her parents."

"We have it cordoned off as a crime scene. You can tell Abbott or Cho everything as soon as the doctor says you're up to it" Teresa told him.

Much as Jane would normally protest that he was fine and could just meet Abbott now to give his statement, he didn't bother. He felt like hell when he woke up and was sliding towards miserable just about now. He hoped he wouldn't throw up while Lisbon was there.

"The doctor says you have to stay here for observation. You also have another head injury of some kind and the knife wounds in your arm and leg need to be sutured" she explained to Patrick.

Jane gently touched his sore temple where the gun had smashed against his face.

"Miriam pistol whipped me, knocked me down. It really hasn't been my day" Jane said with understatement. Then he had an alarming memory.

"The knife wound in my leg is doused with snake venom Teresa, I need anti-venom to counteract it soon!" Jane said with some amount of worry in his voice.

"Miriam slashed all of us with a knife that had coral snake venom on it. We all need to be treated for the poison as soon as possible" he added, thinking of poor Adrianna out there somewhere.

"It's OK, Calvin told us. He already got his shot and yours is coming any minute, so you can relax. We found you in time" she consoled him.

"But not Adrianna."

"No. We don't know where she is. But as soon as we find her we'll make sure she gets the shot too."

"So Calvin...how's he doing?"

"He was great. Played his part perfectly and came through without a scratch, so to speak" Teresa assured Patrick.

"Good man. I'm glad you managed to convince the Sheriff and his deputies to go along with my idea. It was the only way I could get Cal and I 'killed' on Youtube without really dying for Miriam."

"So you think she was watching it live?"

"Watching, or listening on the radio. She needed to know it really happened."

"I hope she wasn't disappointed. But she still has Adrianna somewhere out there" said Teresa with worry. "We have no idea where to look for them."

"We were taken to a shed this morning that Cal and his buddies use when they're out catching snakes. That's where Adrianna was when we were taken to the bridge" Jane remembered, then he got to thinking. "Sorry..it's been a crazy day.." said Jane, his brows furrowed. "Is it still today or is it tomorrow…?" he asked Teresa, unsure how long he had been out cold.

"Still today."

Jane nodded slightly, instantly regretting it as the room tipped and swirled precipitously. He looked a bit green.

"Jane...you OK?"

"Ahhh….no…. " Jane admitted. "Feeling a bit queasy."

Before Lisbon could respond, the curtain opened and a tall older doctor stepped inside the small space holding a tray containing a syringe and a vial of liquid.

"I'm sorry, could you step out for a moment so I can give Mr. Jane his injection?" he said firmly.

Teresa nodded, glad for the interruption. "Sure, I'll be right outside. Oh, and Doctor, Patrick is really nauseated."

"Thanks for the update" the doctor said kindly, then turned back to study Jane for himself.

Patrick watched Teresa go with love and regret, wishing he could join her and the team as they searched for Adrianna. But he really wasn't feeling all that well….

Lisbon had just sat down when she heard from Jane again.

"Ow!" Jane yelled, and Lisbon smiled. His shot had been administered and the doctor left her to her man once again.

"He's all yours" the doctor smiled.

(St. Augustine Hospital, Austin)

The ambulance pulled up to the hospital just outside the downtown core and delivered Miriam to the ER department with a police escort. As far as they were concerned, this woman had been attacked and needed care immediately. The young officer had called the incident into his station and reported an injured and disoriented woman found stumbling down a country road. So far no identification had been found on her and she was unable to give them much information in her current shocked state. The officer waited outside the room while the doctor on call examined the woman. She was dehydrated, exhausted, irrational and bleeding from a bad laceration on her lower arm. Whatever had happened to her, it was devastating. As he conducted the examination, the woman came around and seemed to realize she was safe and in the hospital.

"Snake bite...coral snake.." she muttered.

"Ma'am? Did you say you got bitten by a coral snake?" asked the calm doctor, who now looked for bite marks in her skin.

"No..no bite..knife" said the woman cryptically.

"The knife? What do you mean Ma'am?" the doctor asked gently.

"Venom on the knife, poison…" Miriam said dramatically. 'God!' she thought to herself, this was an Oscar-worthy performance.

The doctor leaned in close and spoke to Miriam, suddenly very concerned for his patient's health.

"You're saying you were stabbed with a knife dipped in coral snake venom?" he repeated, to be sure he understood.

"Yes...stabbed with poison" cried the woman, breaking down in tears.

The doctor stepped out of the room to speak to a nurse, who nodded and ran off to find the antidote to the poison.

"When did you get this cut Ma'am?" he asked, as time was of the essence.

"Today, earlier...maybe 4 hours ago?" she said feebly. She actually wasn't feeling that well.

"Ok then Ma'am, we'll get you fixed up and you'll be just fine. Just try to relax. You're safe now" he said to reassure the frightened woman.

The nurse checked the supply cupboard and found that the last bottle of the anti-venom had been used that morning on a child and the order for more had not come in yet. She got on the phone to Austin General Hospital and requested more anti-venom from the pharmacy. They promised some would be rushed over ASAP.

At Austin General Hospital, the pharmacist hung up the phone and had a technician find the anti-venom and prepare it for transportation over to their sister hospital. Then he picked up the phone and placed a call to Senior Agent Dennis Abbott. The FBI wanted to be informed if any hospitals in the area requested coral snake anti-venom for victims brought in after lunchtime today. How very strange, he thought.

Dennis and Cho were walking towards their SUV with bad hospital coffee in their hands when Abbott's cell phone rang.

"Abbott" he answered. Cho watched as his boss took the call, then saw his face light up with what surely had to be good news. Did they find Adrianna and Miriam?

"Got it, thank you!" said Abbott.

"Well?" asked Cho.

"Another coral snake poison victim. Got stabbed with a knife, just like Jane and Cal!" Dennis smiled.

"Let's go!' said Cho, jumping into the SUV and gunning the motor. Finally, a break!

Miriam had been moved to a room to rest while the police tried to discover if anyone had reported an older woman missing. Perhaps she had dementia and had wandered away from a nursing home, or she was living alone and got lost and was attacked? So many people were reported missing that the young officer feared she would not be identified any time soon unless she could tell them who she was and what had happened.

Miriam was as happy as a kid waiting for Santa Claus. Hell, it was Christmas as far as she was concerned. She had managed to get Calvin killed very publicly, along with that FBI agent. It was all over the news and the internet. Adrianna was as good as dead so she was no longer a worry. Everyone Miriam had harboured a grudge against had met their comeuppance. Only she, Miriam, had persevered, and would now reap her reward. Sliding down into the soft warm bed, she reached for a cold drink of juice and planned how to tell the cops what Cal had done to her and her family. It was a story that they would find fascinating.


	21. Humpty Dumpty

Wow, Friday again! Thanks for the comments and reviews. You have worked hard at figuring out the plot and giving me your take on things, much appreciated. Ok, here we go!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 21

Humpty Dumpty

Adrianna was hoarse. She had been screaming for help for such a long time she feared her voice would give out and then, she would never be found. The water she was lying in was very cold, and from all appearances, looked clear. Thirst was her enemy under the unrelenting sun, but with all of her other worries, poison, and a broken leg, the last thing she was concerned about was bad water. She took the chance to scoop up a handful of water and swallowed it greedily. Then another and another. Her raw throat was instantly soothed. Patting more water on her face to keep herself alert, Adri waited for her voice to gain strength. Then she would begin to call out for rescue once again.

A mile away two young teenaged boys were riding their bikes along a narrow path that ran parallel to their Daddy's ranch. They had been tasked to ride the fence and see what repairs needed to be done. Supposedly they had accomplished this task last week, but they hadn't bothered to do it, not all of it at least. As rancher's kids, they were used to hard work so they weren't necessarily lazy, but then again, it was blazing hot this time of day after school let out, and the last thing they wanted to do was check every acre of land for broken fences. Since their Daddy would be expecting a report from them this weekend, they had no excuse to delay completing their task another day. They set out with popsicles lodged in their mouths and Cokes in their backpacks. To make their job go quicker they had ipods firmly blasting tunes directly into their brains. If they worked fast, they could be home in an hour, two tops, then they could jump in the pool and relax until homework time.

Adri shifted her weight as her back was cramping up in the cold water. Pain instantly assaulted her, the nerves in her shattered leg sending furious signals of fractured bones and torn tissue to her brain. Crying out in anguish, she looked up into the clear, impossibly blue sky, and knew that not so very far away from her, thousands of people were going about their daily lives unaware of the girl slowly dying at the bottom of a well. The thought of it made her weep.

(St. Augustine Hospital)

Cho and Abbott pulled up to the hospital and parked. They had no idea if this patient was just an unfortunate citizen or Adrianna, maybe Miriam. Why would anyone be infected by snake venom via a knife blade? It had to be one of the two women they were searching for. It had to be! The agents who had gone out into the hill country had radioed Abbott telling him that the snake shed turned out to be a dead end, even though it appeared that hostages had been held there. So where had the women gone? And why didn't the young cop who found the woman just check the photos of the missing women to find out if this was the person the FBI was searching for? Sheriff Arkell had some explaining to do.

The two FBI agents presented their badges and were shown to the floor where the unidentified patient was resting. Abbott and Cho had photographs of Adrianna and Miriam in their pockets. If this woman was one of them, perhaps they would discover the whereabouts of the other woman in the next few minutes! As they stepped off the elevator, a doctor was waiting for the two agents.

"Hello? Are you from the FBI?" he asked nervously, eyeing the intimidating men in black.

"Senior Agent Dennis Abbott, this is Agent Kimball Cho" Abbott said as both held out their ID badges. "You have a woman here who needed anti-venom for a coral snake bite?"

"Yes, well no, but yes…" the doctor sputtered, utterly flustered by the presence of two FBI agents in his hallway. "I mean, yes she has coral snake venom in her system, but it was on the edge of a knife, so she says" he explained, feeling stupid now.

"Do you have a name? Who is she?" asked Cho.

"Oh we don't know yet. She is very distraught and was barely able to speak to us when she was brought in" said the doctor.

"Not able to tell you her name, but able to tell you she had snake venom in her system?" said Abbott, finding this interesting. "Selective memory" he added.

The doctor looked from one man to the other, and saw the irony of the statement. "Ah, yes, I guess so..."

"May we see her?" asked Abbott.

"She's resting now. We gave her an injection for the venom and she should be feeling better very soon."

"We need to see her doctor. We might be able to identify her for you" said Cho, not easily dissuaded from his mission.

"Well as long as you don't upset her, I can let you look in on her. But just for a moment gentlemen, she's had a very traumatic experience" he reminded them.

"We'll just be a moment, thank you Doctor" smiled Abbott. He desperately hoped that he would see young Adrianna sleeping soundly in the bed. The doctor led them down the hallway to a private room by the nurse's station.

"Just for a moment" the doctor reminded them again.

Abbott nodded, then he and Cho stepped into the quiet room. Asleep in the bed was a contented middle aged woman, curled up secure in the knowledge that she had pulled off one of the greatest hoaxes in years, if ever. All of her enemies were vanquished and she had emerged victorious. She slept the sleep of a winner.

Cho and Abbott stared at the reclining figure of Miriam Hoekstra and smiled. Based on the information Jane and Cal had told them, Miriam's days of freedom were over. She would be a very disappointed woman when she woke up.

They stepped out of the room and Abbott got on his cellphone to arrange a guard to watch her room. Cho stationed himself outside her door until he could be replaced. Abbott went back into her room and quietly placed a handcuff on her left wrist, attaching it to the bar on the side of her bed.

"Gotcha!" he whispered into her peaceful face before he silently slipped out of her room.

(Austin General Hospital)

Teresa pulled aside the blue curtain to find Jane rubbing his arm where the injection had been administered.

"Were you a brave boy for the doctor?" she teased her disgruntled boyfriend. 'Boyfriend'... she thought the word seemed so sophomoric. He wasn't a boy and was certainly more than a friend. If only there was a more adult phrase she could employ to enshrine their relationship. Jane wasn't her fiance, but was as committed to her as she was to him. For now, for herself, she would have to be content to call him her lover. Her beloved lover.

"Yes I was brave! But did you see the size of that needle? It would bring down an elephant!" Jane complained.

"Well suck it up, because the alternative would be dying of the venom."

"Point taken. When can I get out of here?" asked Jane, even though he felt like hell.

"Not today" replied Teresa, prepared for his request. Hospitals were anathema to Jane, so he had no intention of sticking around one minute longer than necessary.

"You still need to be stitched up, and you have a concussion, so you need bed rest" she reminded him.

"Fine. Get a doctor in here with a suture kit and we can be on our way. And before you argue with me" Patrick said, stopping her objection before it began, "I have a perfectly fine bed at home. Why stay here and take up a bed someone else might need more? Then I'll rest better under your gentle care" he finished with a compliment. As he spoke, he swayed ever so slightly, the room starting to spin in his peripheral vision.

Teresa knew he was angling for her to agree with him, and dammit, he was right. Resting at the hospital would be less peaceful than being at home, if she could keep him at home. As for the stitches, she wanted that attended to quickly as well.

"Tell you what, I'll find the doctor and see when they plan to stitch up those knife wounds, then maybe I can convince him to release you to my care."

"Thank you Teresa, I'll be good, I promise!" Patrick beamed at her, as if his release papers were as good as signed already.

"You will be under my watchful eye Mr. Jane" Teresa warned Patrick. When he tried to laugh at her, she turned serious.

"Patrick, you got shot in the head, and you were pistol whipped. All kidding aside, those are serious injuries, and if, by some stroke of luck, you are released today or tomorrow, you will damned well stay home and rest or I will bring you back here myself! Understood?"

The smile fell off Patrick's face as he was reminded how close he came to dying today. Of course his lover would be worried about his health even if he was a bit too cavalier about it. He should have realized how stressful this had been for Teresa.

"I'm sorry Teresa. I just want to go home, with you. I am tired and to be truthful, I don't feel all that well, but if rest is all I need, then I can do that on the sofa, in my bed, wherever you choose, as long as I don't have to stay here listening to toilets flush at three a.m. every ten minutes. So, I promise to be good and do what the doctor says. Really" he said, this time truthfully.

Leaning into him for a kiss, Teresa then got up and headed for the hallway, to find the ER doctor. While she would be happy if Jane was kept in the hospital at least for the night, she knew his goal was snuggling up to her tonight, asleep in his own bed. Sighing, she would do her best to make him happy. Ultimately, it was out of her hands.

(FBI Headquarters)

Cal and the agent who had accompanied him from the hospital stepped off the elevator. When Cal had been here just one day earlier, he was a bundle of nerves. What a difference 24 hours made. Now he was self-assured, relaxed and eager to help bring down a killer. His bravery on the bridge had been a life changing moment for him. Now he knew that he could do whatever he wanted to do, whatever he needed to do, to be happy.

The agent pointed the way to the same interrogation room Cal had sat in yesterday, but it was far less intimidating today. Once he was settled, coffee was brought in and the agent got busy videotaping his statement. Cal poured his heart into his testimony, leaving no detail out, until a clear picture emerged of Miriam Hoekstra and her ongoing pilgrimage to destroy the remaining members of the Hoekstra family. While he had no idea where his sister had been taken, Calvin told the agent about how Agent Jane had found proof of Miriam's trip to Holland the weekend his grandparents died, and described how she admitted she had sedated Henny, and Klaas by mistake, then set their house on fire. By the time Cal finished speaking with the agent, his testimony would be a huge hammer of evidence, enough to bring a conviction against his Aunt when and if she was caught and charged with murder.

(Austin General Hospital)

Lisbon had to wait to speak with the overworked ER doctor, but eventually she managed to snag him before he left for a small break.

"Sorry to take you away from your other patients doctor, but can you tell me when Patrick Jane will have his injuries sutured?"

The doctor had to think for a moment. Which patient was Patrick Jane? Oh yes! The FBI agent!

"Yes, Agent Jane...yes.. I have given orders for his arm and leg to be sutured. If it hasn't been done yet, it will be anytime now. Is that all?" he asked hopefully, desperate to sit down.

"Well, no, actually. Agent Jane really wants to go home today. He believes he will rest better in his own bed and maybe he has a point" Teresa said in a rush, hoping the doctor would just agree and be done with it. She was wrong.

"No, I'm sorry to disappoint Agent Jane, but absolutely not. His head injury must be monitored overnight at the very least. Although he might feel fine right now, as the hours pass, he may go downhill for a while, nausea, vomiting, dizziness… a whole list of side effects from two blows to the head. Believe me Agent, he doesn't want to be dealing with that tonight. Also, the anti-venom can sometimes result in the patient feeling sick, so we have to watch Mr. Jane for a reaction as well. I'm afraid I can't release him."

Lisbon nodded and thanked the doctor, then turned back towards Jane's cubicle. When she got there, it was empty. Now where did he go?

It took another ten minutes for her partner to be located, but eventually Teresa found Patrick in a treatment room, his arm and leg numbed up with shots of lidocaine. An intern was busy stitching up the long cut in Patrick's arm, but fortunately, he felt no pain.

"There you are!" Teresa said in relief. Any time Patrick went missing in a hospital was a bad day for Lisbon.

"You had just left when they came for me. See, I'm getting put back together again, like Humpty Dumpty! Did the doctor say I can go home?" Patrick asked, expecting good news.

Teresa stood off to one side, purposefully not watching each stitch as it went into Patrick's raw red skin.

"I did find the doctor, but, you can't go home Patrick" she began, until he cut her off.

"But I'm fine! Look, my stitches will close the knife wounds, and I promise to go right to bed when we get home!" he assured her, trying to ignore the fact that he felt like his bed was listing from side to side like a small boat in the ocean.

"I believe you Patrick, but the doctor said the side effects of the gunshot wound will show up as the day wears on. He said you could get light headed, dizzy, nauseous...or worse. The staff want to monitor you to make sure you don't go downhill" she explained, seeing the disappointment in his face.

"I'm sorry, I tried" she added kindly.

Jane sighed deeply, his hopes for getting out of there dashed. He would never admit it to Teresa, but he felt lousy, queasy even. If he could just keep the little bit of liquid in his stomach from coming back up, he'd be lucky.

"Just try to relax and sleep maybe, OK? It'll make the time go faster" Teresa suggested. Jane gazed back at the man working on his arm and pulled a face. Ugh, big mistake to watch the man sew him up like a piece of upholstery. When the intern put the last stitch in his arm, he then went to work on Patrick's leg. 20 minutes later, both injuries were sutured and wrapped in multiple layers of gauze and Patrick was wheeled to a private room two floors up from the ER department. When the freezing came out his injuries would hurt like a son of a bitch.

Looking around at his pale green, non-descript room, Jane resigned himself to a long, boring night. Teresa stood back as the nurse taking care of Jane got him settled, then checked his vitals. Five minutes later, they were alone again. Patrick lay back against his pillows, light headed from everything that had happened to him in the last few hours.

"Can I get you anything?" Teresa asked, hoping to make his evening imprisoned in the hospital a bit more palatable.

"Yes, some Thai food, a good cup of tea and a good book" he said like a grump.

Taking his hand in hers, Teresa smiled down at her disgruntled man.

"How about that cup of tea first? I think you would regret Thai food once it sits in your stomach for a while. But I can rustle up a bagel or toast to go with the tea. I'll try to find a good book while I'm at it."

Jane smiled back at his lovely girlfriend and felt bad for being grumpy with her. She understood him so well.

"Sounds good. Especially the tea."

"OK then, let me go and get working on that and I'll be right back" she smiled, standing up. Lisbon walked over to the door and cast a quick glance back at Jane. He already had his eyes closed.


	22. Lies Lies Lies

I just realized that this is a long weekend here in Canada, so I may not be around to publish a new chapter on Monday. Lucky for you, it's ready to go, so here is another chapter! Two in one day!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 22

Lies Lies Lies

(St. Augustine Hospital)

Cho stood guard until he was replaced by an agent who took up his position outside of Miriam Hoekstra's door. Abbott had instructed the staff that their patient was a murder suspect and would be treated like a criminal under guard. The staff was suitably shocked and a little afraid now, but promised to cooperate with law enforcement in regards to Miriam. Now he and Cho could get the truth out of Miriam. Her peaceful sleep was about to come to an abrupt end.

Abbott and Cho stepped back into Miriam's room and approached her bed.

"Miriam Hoekstra, tell us where Adrianna is" Dennis boomed right beside her pillow.

The sudden intrusive voice so close by her ear made Miriam awake with a start. She opened her eyes in shock and stared at the imposing man standing by her pillow. Pulling herself into a sitting position she stared at Abbott and recoiled slightly at the power he exuded.

"Who are you? I have no idea where my niece is!" she barked at Abbott, then turned to glare at Cho. "Can't you see I'm a sick woman?"

She felt cornered but immediately went into survival mode. She was an expert at concealing her crimes and her intentions, so why would she change her modus operandi now? As she tried to sit up further her wrist snagged in the steel handcuff. Now her concern turned to anger. Abbott addressed her again.

"Miss Hoekstra, we don't have time for this. I'm Senior Agent in Charge Dennis Abbott with the FBI, and this is Agent Cho. We know you took Adrianna somewhere and that she could die soon without treatment for the snake venom in her body. Do the right thing and tell us where she is."

"How should I know where she is? I'm a victim too!" she pleaded. She had to get control of the conversation as soon as possible. This had been her plan all along, plead innocence and blame her now dead nephew.

"Calvin attacked us and kidnapped us. I had no idea he was so evil! He took my poor Adrianna away and killed her, I'm sure of it! And that agent, Mr. Jane, he stabbed him just like he stabbed me! My sweet Adrianna is out there somewhere and with Cal and Mr. Jane dead, we'll never find her!" she added tearfully, doing a masterful job of appearing sick and terrorized.

"So Cal stabbed everyone and killed Adrianna, but you escaped?" Cho said, stepping closer to the bed. "How is that possible?"

"I don't feel well, I've been poisoned" Miriam moaned, sliding down against her pillows. "Please, can you take this handcuff off? It hurts. I'm the victim here, why am I in cuffs?" she asked Abbott, sounding pathetic.

"Miss Hoekstra, the judge will go easier on you if you give us Adrianna's location in time for us to save her. We know you kidnapped Calvin, Adri and Mr. Jane. There's no point in lying to us, we know what happened. Time is running out for you and for Adrianna" Dennis added.

Miriam felt a chill run up her spine. Just what did these men know? Was Abbott lying about knowing what happened in the kitchen and on the bridge? Was it a ploy to get her to incriminate herself? She had to stick to her story, especially since Cal and Jane were dead on the bridge, and Adrianna would soon be dead as well…..yes, best to keep up the lie until there were no more witnesses to tell the truth.

"No, you've got it all wrong. We were kidnapped by that evil nephew of mine. I always loved Calvin and look what he did to me and his sister! That poor Agent Jane got caught up in Cal's plot to kill us just like he killed his parents and his grandparents! He wanted to have Hoekstra Importing all to himself!" she argued. "I'm so lucky to be alive!" she exclaimed with relief.

"As for my dear Adrianna, please find her! Cal drove her away in his van and he came back alone. She's still out there somewhere!" Miriam said convincingly.

Abbott walked around the bed until he stood at the foot and stared straight into Miriam's face.

"You kidnapped everyone and stabbed them with venom. It was you who took Adrianna away in the van and left her somewhere. Now for the last time, tell us where she is!" he roared.

"Do the right thing, for once in your life Miss Hoekstra. Save Adrianna's life and the judge will take it into account when he sentences you" Cho reminded her.

Miriam turned her face away from the men. "Stop yelling at me! I'm the victim here! I need to rest!"

She was done with them and this conversation. Cho sighed heavily and glanced at Abbott, who looked like he could murder the woman himself. At a signal from Abbott, the men left the room and Miriam felt like she had triumphed once again.

"Now what?" Cho asked Abbott.

"We need Cal, now!" barked Abbott, reaching for his phone. An agent would drive Cal over from the nearby FBI office as soon as possible to prove to Miriam that her nephew was alive and would tell the FBI everything that she was denying. In the meantime, they had to hope and pray that someone would find Adrianna before it was too late.

Abbott made some calls to check in with the agents in the field about their search for the missing girl. Cho wandered off in frustration to find a coffee. While he was at the vending machine, Lisbon called.

"Cho"

"Hi Cho, what's up? Any news?"

Cho filled her in on Miriam's capture. Unfortunately he couldn't add any good news about Adrianna Hoekstra. He kept his report short and to the point, as usual, but the disgust in his voice was unmistakeable.

"Cal has told his story to Agent Conrad and is on his way over here to force Miriam to tell us where Adrianna is" he explained. "As soon as the doctor says Miriam can be released, we'll take her into custody."

"Time isn't on our side Cho" Lisbon said, horrified that the woman would happily let her niece die while she held the key to rescuing her in time.

"Yup...look, I gotta go and wait for Cal. Say hi to Jane from me" Cho said, grabbing his coffee and heading back down the hallway towards Miriam's room.

"Will do. Who's going to debrief Jane?" she asked.

Cho thought it over and noticed Cal stepping off the elevator. "Lisbon, since you're there, go ahead, interrogate Jane. I'm sure he'll verify what Cal told us. Gotta go" he said before hanging up.

Cal spotted Cho walking towards the only door guarded by a big beefy agent. Abbott was waiting by the guard. Joining the two agents, Cal smiled at Cho and waited to find out what was going on.

"Nice to see you again Cal. How're you doing?"

"Better now, after finally telling someone what happened today. Agent Cho, my Aunt killed my parents and my grandparents. She admitted it! Was proud of it!" he said in disbelief. "Agent Jane figured it out though, something about wooden shoes on a keyring and a passport stamp" he said, shaking his head.

"That's what Jane's good at, finding a tiny detail that no one else noticed, then putting it all in context and leading us to the guilty party."

"Well he almost didn't get the chance to do that this time" said Cal, saddened that Agent Jane had been shot. "How is Mr. Jane doing?"

"He's going to be OK in time. It could have been much worse. Do you think you could help us?" Cho asked the young man.

"That's what I seem to be doing a lot of today" Cal answered, curious to know what the plan was now.

"Good. Just pull up a chair and wait 'til I come out and get you. We have your Aunt in this room, under arrest" said Cho. Cal slumped down in a chair stunned at this wonderful news. Could the whereabouts of his sister finally be revealed now? Cho and Abbott turned and opened Miriam's door. Whatever was going to happen in that room, Cal could imagine it would be very interesting. Abbott entered the room and quietly set up a small video camera across from the hospital bed, adjusting it until Miriam was in the middle of the frame. Then he waited. Miriam glared at the two agents with undisguised hatred.

"Miss Hoekstra, you're under arrest for the kidnapping, stabbing and attempted murder of Patrick Jane, Adrianna Hoekstra and Calvin Hoekstra. You are also under arrest for the murder of your parents Herman and Miriam Hoekstra and your brother Klaas Hoekstra and his wife Henny. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law" said Abbott formally.

Miriam sat up and gave Abbott a good once over, deciding that he could still be persuaded that he had it all wrong.

"Oh Agent Abbot, please believe me, I am the victim here! I thought I was going to die! I've already told you this!"

Cho shifted his weight and stood with his feet apart, his arms folded across his chest. Time to get this all down on video.

"You say you thought you were going to die. Can you tell us again why is that Ms. Hoekstra? Who was going to hurt you?"

Miriam fluttered her one free hand and made herself look newly upset at the memory of her traumatic day. She knew the camera was recording her performance so she had to make this good.

"You've got it all wrong Agent! Cal...Cal's a monster! I never saw it...all these years...I loved him! My nephew was the light of my life, like my niece Adrianna, but he tried to kill me! And I think he killed my liefste Adrianna! Oh my God, she's dead!" Miriam cried, weeping into a tissue.

"Ms. Hoekstra, for the record, can you tell me what happened to you, to Cal, Adrianna and Patrick Jane?"

Sniffing loudly, Miriam nodded, wiping her moist eyes.

"This morning, I got up to go to work, same as always...and sat with Adrianna in the kitchen drinking coffee, like we always do before we leave for work. Then Cal got up...oh my God...it was terrible!" Looking at Cho, she shook and wiped her face, the scene playing out in her mind.

"Cal came through the living room and had a knife! He was going to hurt us, but then poor Agent Jane came to the house. Adrianna and I couldn't warn him to run to safety. Cal invited him inside and once he was there, he attacked that poor man, sliced his arm badly with the knife, then he tied us all up with zip ties. Before we could fight back, he took us out to his van and kidnapped us. Poor Agent Jane was bleeding so much, he must have suffered so badly!" she said, horrified at the memory.

"Then what did Cal do Ms. Hoekstra?" asked Cho, fascinated by this woman's ability to spin lies and fantasies.

"He took us out to the shed where he and his buddies do all their sick and twisted things with snakes. Like devil worship if you ask me!" she added. "We were so afraid and begged him to let us go, we promised we wouldn't tell anyone what he had done. Adrianna was terrified, the poor girl. He took snake venom and put it on the blade of the knife, then he slashed my arm, Agent Jane's leg, and Adrianna's arm, so that no matter what happened, we would all die of the venom within 18 hours."

Cho nodded and kept a straight face. "Why did he want all of you dead?" She neglected to mention Cal's own arm had been slashed...was she losing track of her story?

"Because that Agent, Jane, he figured out that Cal killed his Oma and Opa, and his parents too. Cal told us that he couldn't let us live, we knew too much."

"So where is Adrianna now Ms. Hoekstra? You must tell us. Where did Cal take her?"

Miriam shook her head sadly. "I don't know...I don't know...he tied us up but took her away. When he came back to the shed, he came back alone. I think she's dead Agent Cho" she said, bursting into tears again.

"Ms. Hoekstra, how did you get away?" Abbott asked, thoroughly amazed.

Miriam smiled slightly and looked at him. Didn't he listen the first time she told him?

"Cal got too cocky. He thought he had it all under control, so he put Agent Jane and I in the van, and drove us to a bridge far out in the country. He left me in the van then was going to throw Agent Jane into the river after he stabbed him in the heart. While they were walking towards the bridge, I managed to loosen my zip ties and slid over into the driver's side of the van. I hit the gas and drove out of there as fast as possible. Unfortunately, I was so upset that I drove into a large rock and the van died. I had to walk miles and miles until that wonderful young police officer found me. Thank God, he found me!" she cried. "Now please, take this thing off my wrist, it hurts!"

"What happened to Agent Jane and Cal?" Cho asked, keen to get her to explain that situation, pulling the strings of the trap tighter.

"The radio announcer was there, he saw it all. It must have been just a terrible thing to witness. The announcer said two men were stuck in the middle of the bridge, surrounded by police. Cal must have panicked because he couldn't get away. Then, he attacked that poor Mr. Jane with the knife….and the police killed him! He's dead! The announcer said Mr. Jane and Cal died in the gunfight. I'm so sorry..that poor agent!"

Her demeanor was so different now that she could perform for a camera. Miriam broke down and wept into her tissue. "I know he was evil, but I loved Cal. I don't know why he did what he did, but I hope he knows I loved him" she said tenderly. "Please, take this thing off me" she said, this time a bit more rudely since that stupid agent still hadn't done what she asked.

"So Cal is dead, Mr. Jane is dead, and Adrianna is most likely dead, but you got out alive" said Cho.

"Yes! I can't believe it myself. When the announcer on the radio said Calvin Hoekstra and Agent Jane were dead, I just broke down. Mr. Jane didn't deserve to die like that."

Cho stood and stared at Miriam. She wiped her tears and looked back at him and Abbott. What did they want now? She told them a convincing story but they still had her tied to the bed.

"Take this damned thing off my arm this instant!" she demanded.

Cho relaxed his stance and shook his head, no. The cuff wasn't coming off. Abbott played his ace card.

"I have just one question Ms. Hoekstra. How did you know it was Calvin and Mr. Jane who died on the bridge? You weren't there to see it."

Miriam stared at Abbott as if he was the dumbest man on earth.

"But I told you already. I drove away to save myself and the radio announcer told the audience what happened and that Calvin and Agent Jane had died on the bridge" she said, spelling it out for the dim witted FBI agent.

"The problem with that Miss Hoekstra is that the announcer never said who was shot on the bridge. He actually had no idea who the men on the bridge were or why they were there in the first place. No names were ever given out by the police" said Cho.

"But, yes, yes he did! He told everyone! I heard it! And I had been there when Cal walked Agent Jane onto the bridge so I knew!" she babbled, getting a tiny bit nervous.

"No, the announcer didn't, because he didn't know what was going on and we didn't tell him. As far as he's concerned, it was just two crazy men on a bridge" Abbott said calmly.

"No...no...you must be mistaken...I know what I saw and what I heard" Miriam insisted.

"Maybe I can clear this up for you" said Cho, as he walked towards the door. Pulling it open, he signalled to someone to come in.

"Perhaps this will help jog your memory" Cho said, thrilled to see her world come crashing down.

As Miriam turned expectantly towards the door to see who had come in to visit her, her eyes grew large as saucers when her nephew Cal strolled in.

"Hello Tante Miriam. I'm back from the dead! Now where's my sister!"


	23. The Angel

Ok, back from a nice long weekend. Time to get flowers in the ground, but in the meantime, here's another chapter. Enjoy!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 23

The Angel

(The Well)

The two boys had checked acres of fencing and were melting in the heat. They had just one or two more stretches of fence to finish and then they were going to ride home as fast as possible to cool off in their pool. Teenaged Randy rode ahead, a keener and eager to get the job done. Mark, his curly haired younger brother, was bored and hung back, checking a few more broken fence posts before he joined his brother. He stopped to wipe his forehead and take final sip of Coke before he threw the bottle away. He tossed the bottle and heard it crash against some rocks and hopped back on his bike. If his brother knew he'd done that he'd be in deep trouble.

Adrianna stirred at the bottom of the well. She had given up calling for help at least a half hour ago. No one was going to come back here, and she had succumbed to a kind of resignation, her fate seemingly assured. The water wasn't cold anymore, or maybe she was just numb enough not to feel it as much. Perhaps, she mused, she could fall asleep and stay asleep, then the venom would slowly take her, hopefully without too much pain involved. If there was a God in a heaven, then maybe He would allow her to see her mother and her father again. Just the thought of feeling her mother's arms around her in love and warmth made Adri smile despite her dire straits. Surely they would be waiting for her on the other side, along with her Oma and Opa. Thinking this made her happy for the first time in hours. She would miss Cal, always, but she would see her parents again. A fair tradeoff. As she closed her eyes to try to doze, the sound of a bottle smashing against a rock directly overhead jolted her out of her lethargy. A bottle or glass was breaking! She was sure of it! Rousing herself once again, she croaked out a plea for rescue.

"Help! Help me! Get help, I'm in the well!" she screamed with a scratchy raw throat. As she called and screamed and cried out, Mark got on his bike and turned to rejoin his brother. The first turn of his wheel snagged his untied shoelace and caught it in the gears of his low-rider.

"Jeepers creepers!" he groused, throwing his bike down to untangle his shoelace. Randy rode back to give him some grief about being a slowpoke, when he stopped his bike and looked out across the open range.

"Did you hear that Mark?" he asked.

"Cut it out Randy! I gotta get my shoelace untangled. Help me out!" Mark yelled at him.

"Shut up bonehead! I hear something!"

"Yeah, your asshole whistling Dixie" laughed Mark, tugging against his stubborn oily shoelace.

"Shut up you idiot! Listen, it's a girl somewhere close" Randy said, hopping off his bike and taking a few steps towards the fence line.

"Yeah you wish" said Mark, delighting in teasing his awkward 15 year old brother.

"Anybody please, help me! I'm in the well! Help!" screamed Adrianna, terrified the person who had broken the glass had already left.

Randy found the direction the voice had come from and took off running, hopped over the fence and jogged towards the abandoned well. Then he looked down.

"Oh my God" he whispered.

Randy dropped to his knees and stared down the well, shocked to see frightened blue eyes staring back at him.

"Hello?" he called to Adrianna. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes! Yes I hear you! Get me out of here, please!" she called back, splashing around in the water trying to stand again. When her leg gave out in a fireball of pain, she collapsed against the slick wall of her prison.

"I have to get out of here!" she screamed.

"Yes Ma'am!" Randy called back, terrified and befuddled. "Ah...what's your name?"

"Adrianna. Please, get me out of here!" she asked again.

"OK, just let me get my Daddy out here" Randy yelled, the first thought that came into his head.

"Do it fast! I have coral snake venom in my bloodstream and need to get to a hospital immediately" Adrianna told him. "Please!"

"OK! Just wait there!" the boy answered as he ran off to tell his brother what he had found.

"God I'm a jackass...wait right there…" he said to himself. What a dumb thing to say to someone stuck in a well!

"Mark, did you bring your cellphone with you today?" he shouted at his brother as he ran up to Mark.

"'Course dumbass. But you can't use it" his little brother teased him as he started to get back on his bike."Get your own!"

"Give me your phone Mark! There's a lady at the bottom of the well, and we need to rescue her" he explained, grabbing the phone before his brother could protest. Mark stared at his brother in amazement. If this was another trick to make him look dumb, he'd get his revenge! As Randy dialled 911 for help, Mark decided to run over to look down the well, sure that his brother was just pulling a fast one on him, like usual. Nothing could have prepared the youngster for the sight waiting for him. There, in the dank well, lay a wet, frightened woman who looked about ready to fade away.

"Geez Louise…" he muttered, shocked out of his very young mind.

"Hello? I need an ambulance or the police, or someone right now!" Randy yelled at the 911 operator.

"What is your emergency Sir?" she asked calmly.

"There's a woman dying in the bottom of a well!" the kid yelled.

The operator sprang into action, keeping Randy calm enough to tell her the County Line address for their ranch, then placed a call for a rescue helicopter to fly there immediately.

"Stay on the line with me until the chopper gets there young man" the operator told Randy.

"Yes Ma'am" he replied, excited and terrified all at the same time. Randy walked back to join his worried little brother at the lip of the well, staring down at the woman who had used the last of her strength to call out to him.

Adri had settled back in the water and lay against the wet wall, all of her energy used up in her last attempt to be heard. Randy called out to her, but she was not responding anymore. Adrianna closed her eyes, feeling light and floaty, like she had left the confines of the well and was on her way to a better place. As she vaguely heard a young boy call her name, she guessed that she was just imagining the whole thing, then drifted off, finally feeling at peace.

(St. Augustine Hospital)

Miriam stared at Cal like the devil had just entered her room.

"What is this?" she shouted at him in disbelief. "You're not Calvin. Calvin's dead, he died on the bridge today. The radio said two men were shot by the police!"

Calvin stood next to Abbott and Cho and smiled at his Aunt.

"That's a nice act Tante Miriam, but then I guess you're a pretty good actress. Are you going for the insanity plea? You're right, I was on the bridge today with Agent Jane, because you took us there to die. You made us go and you made me hold a knife at Jane's throat."

Calvin walked over to the side of the bed and glowered at his stunned Aunt, his clenched fists eager to punch her in the face. The wiley woman refused to believe she had been fooled, even as Calvin stood beside her, mocking her.

"Here's the thing though Aunt Miriam... no one died, no one. You aren't the genius you thought you were. I survived. Jane survived. He's alive and well and you're going to hell for what you did to us!" he spat out.

Miriam listened to her nephew debunk her story in horror. No, no this couldn't happen now, not after all of her planning and scheming, after her successful day...how could this be happening?

"No, that's not true! This man is a liar! Don't believe anything he says!" Miriam shouted at Abbott, who stood impassively watching her performance. Cho sighed in frustration. He'd had enough of this crap.

"Ms. Hoekstra, tell us what you did with Adrianna. Time is running out and we need to find her" Cho barked sternly.

"Ask him" Miriam said, pointing to Cal. "He took her" she insisted, still believing she could manipulate this cop into believing her story. If Adrianna died, there would be one less witness against her.

"Tante Miriam! Please! Tell us where she is!" screamed Cal, overcome with grief and rage.

"Ms. Hoekstra, do one good thing with your life. Save your niece before she dies from the snake venom. We know what you did, Jane and Cal will testify against you. You have only one option left. Tell us where you took Adrianna and the judge may take that into consideration when he sentences you" Cho begged her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" Miriam said, then turned on her side and ignored the men beside her bed.

Cho also wanted to reach out and throttle the woman, and he couldn't imagine how Calvin felt. He turned off the video camera and stepped out of the room to find a doctor. Abbott leaned against the wall observing the cruel woman in the bed. Cal stared at his Aunt in barely contained rage, then walked closer to her bed. Leaning down, he whispered directly into her ear.

"You are going to die in prison Tante Miriam, either as a very old woman, or you'll get the death penalty for what you did to my family. Either way, you're going to hell" he said, then turned and walked quietly out of her room, followed by Dennis Abbott. At Calvin's words, Miriam felt a cold chill of fear hit her very hard and bitter heart.

Cho found a doctor passing by and sat him down for a talk.

"Is the patient in room 314 well enough to be discharged?"

"I'm not her attending physician" he answered, not terribly interested in checking her chart. "You'll have to find her doctor for that information."

Cho flipped open his badge and glared at the officious young man.

"You are now. Check her chart and tell me if we can take that woman out of here. She's under arrest for murder and kidnapping. Do it!"

The doctor looked at the badge and blanched. "Ye...yes Sir..I'll get right on that" he blubbered. He stood up and fairly ran across the hall to the nurse's station where he located the chart for the patient in room 314. Seeing that her only issues were hysteria, a laceration in her arm and a snake venom injury that had already been treated, there truly was no reason to keep her in the hospital for another minute. He jogged back to Cho and told him he would sign the patient over to the custody of the FBI. Then Cho could drag her murderous ass to jail.

Cal slumped down in a chair outside his Aunt's room in exhaustion. The day had finally caught up with him and he just wanted to curl up and weep, but until he knew if Adri was alive or dead, he couldn't rest. Cho got on his cell phone and called for a paddy wagon and backup while Abbott checked in with his team out searching for Adrianna. Still nothing…

Miriam wasn't going anywhere cuffed to the bed, so Cho could relax for a few minutes until reinforcements arrived.

"We'll find her" he assured Cal.

"I'm scared I'll never see Adri alive again" Cal admitted. Cho took a deep breath and had no words of encouragement for him. The girl was out there, in the dusk, and the chances of finding her alive were getting slimmer and slimmer with each passing minute. Cho sat down next to him in silent support, hoping for a break but expecting the worst.

(Sheriff's Office)

Sheriff Clemson Arkell had spent the better part of the day searching for Miriam and Adrianna with most of his men, except the young man who had actually found Miriam but didn't check the BOLO on her. If he had done his job correctly and followed procedure, Miriam would have been taken into custody hours ago. If not for the request for more anti-venom from a hospital in Austin, she might not have been located at all. The deputy who screwed up so badly was on desk duty until his boss decided what to do with him. Meanwhile the police cruisers drove the backroads and checked everywhere they could to find Adri before time ran out. Sheriff Arkell had returned to his office feeling frustrated and ineffectual. A ringing phone drew the Sheriff's attention, igniting a spark of hope that the call brought good news.

"Sheriff Arkell" he boomed into the receiver. As he listened a grin spread over his face. At last, a small success! Turning to the few officers remaining in the office he announced the report.

"Officers have found the beige van. We're getting close boys!"

Smiles dotted faces around the small cluttered office then the men got back to work. If the van had been found, perhaps young Adrianna would be found close by. It was the break the police had needed.

An alert had been sent to all 911 operators to report the discovery of any young women matching Adrianna's description, so it was with relief that Clemson took the call from the dispatch centre to report a young woman down a well. A blonde woman who said her name was Adrianna!

(The Well)

The rescue helicopter landed on a flat piece of land at Randy's father's ranch, as close to the back of the property as was possible, then the paramedics walked in carrying their stretcher and supplies. A fire truck had been dispatched as well and would arrive soon with men trained to rescue Adrianna from the well. Within 15 minutes of her being discovered, the site was a hive of orderly chaos. A winch was set up to lower a firefighter to the bottom of the well with a rescue basket for the victim. There he would assess her injuries then quickly bring her up to the surface for transport to the nearest hospital.

Adrianna was barely conscious. A great humming had disturbed her imaginings of escape, and as it grew louder, the earth seemed to vibrate in time with the thrum thrum thrum of the deafening sound. Cracking her eyes open to a thin slit, she beheld a wondrous sight. Above her head, silhouetted against the evening sky, was the face of a young cherub, his curly blonde hair encircling a sweet, innocent face. He stared down at Adrianna and she knew that the angels had come for her at last. She smiled. This was ok, she was ok, God was looking after her now. Breathing out a deep sigh of contentment, she closed her eyes again. 'Take me home to Mum and Dad' she prayed.

Young Mark was pulled from the edge of the well to make room for the firemen to do their jobs. The fireman who was being lowered down called out to Adrianna, trying to rouse her and let her know help was coming. At the distant sound of her name, Adri forced her sleepy eyes open again, and smiled. There above her, winging his way to her side, was an angel, large and handsome and calling her name in the gentlest way possible. She strained to see his wings, but they were hidden behind his back.

"Adrianna, you're going to be OK now" he said in a sweet voice. "Be brave for a few more minutes Adrianna and soon we'll go up top" he told her.

Adri smiled. 'Up top"... what a funny way to describe heaven! She opened her eyes again and the angel was right above her...now he was beside her...now he was touching her and lifting her up into his strong arms. His warmth and strength was transferred into her body and she felt like she could almost get up and walk, but she wouldn't need to do that anymore. Adrianna gazed at the angel and leaned back while he ran his hands over her body, examining her and uttering words of kindness and encouragement. As she faded away, the young fireman deployed the rescue basket and worked to lower her broken body into it. 5 minutes later, they were on their way out of the watery tomb. Enveloped in a silvery blanket to preserve her body temperature, Adrianna was pulled to safety at the lip of the well and whisked over to a flat piece of land where she was given a rudimentary examination by the paramedics. Once it was determined she could be moved onto the helicopter, the EMT's lifted her basket and ran back to the waiting chopper.

Adrianna was so out of it that she was incapable of answering more than the most basic questions. Even getting her name out of her was difficult. She was so confused. Why would angels ask her questions? Getting to heaven was a noisy, busy process. Within 10 minutes she was in the air on her way to Austin General Hospital. The pilot remembered to call the Sheriff to tell him they might have found their missing girl. Sheriff Clemson Arkell then dialed the number for the imposing man he had met earlier today, Senior Agent Dennis Abbott.

Abbott was about to leave the hospital to wait for Miriam to be processed and incarcerated at FBI headquarters once she had been removed from St. Augustine Hospital. He was sure the woman would make a scene, but his men were up for the challenge of subduing one middle-aged woman. The thought of it made him smile. The shrill ring of his cell phone disturbed his thoughts.

"Abbott!"

"Agent Abbott? This is Sheriff Arkell, we met earlier today Sir?"

"Yes Sheriff, what can I do for you?" Abbott asked, hopeful this was the call he had been waiting for.

"We found her Agent! We got a report of a woman in a well in Hill Country and it turns out she's Adrianna Hoekstra!" he said joyfully. He loved it when their investigation resulted in a rescue instead of the recovery of a victim's dead body.

"How is she?" asked Abbott.

"Sick, broken leg, confused, exhausted, take your pick, but she's on her way to Austin General with a team of EMT's. Coming in by chopper and should be there soon. Thought you'd like to know!" he smiled into the phone.

"Great news! Thanks for the call Sheriff!" Abbott said.

"Pleasure" said the Sheriff before he hung up. Abbott turned back to tell Cho and Cal the good news in person. Once this business with Miriam Hoekstra was done and over with, he wanted to head over to Austin General to see Adrianna with his own eyes, then give Lisbon and Jane the good news. What a great ending to a terrible day! Calvin had suffered so much and now, finally, he would find out that his sister was alive!


	24. Kicking and Screaming

Thank you to everyone who took the time to review, much appreciated. I have another chapter ready to go, so why not publish? Things are looking up!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 24

Kicking and Screaming

Lisbon found a decent teabag in the visitor's kitchenette, so she brewed up a cup of tea for Jane and toasted two pieces of bread. It had been hours since he last ate and that alone would upset his already temperamental stomach. Jam in the fridge would have to suffice until Jane could digest something more inspired. The last thing Teresa wanted to do was feed him something that would upset his stomach more and make him throw up, as if his dizziness wasn't enough to handle. She wasn't sure Jane would be released anytime soon, even though he was sure he would be leaving tomorrow, or the next day at the latest. A bullet to the head plus a severe pistol whipping was not something to take so lightly, but that is exactly what he was doing.

Carrying a small plastic tray, she made her way back to his quiet room. Someone had lowered the head of the bed and Jane was out cold. While she wanted to talk to him and give him his tea, Lisbon was happy he was finally sleeping. His day had been traumatic and his injuries were painful. Sleep would give him the respite he so desperately needed right now. Setting the tray down on his table, Lisbon pulled over a chair and sat next to her lover and held his hand. When she had seen him on the bridge this afternoon with a knife to his throat and an arsenal of guns aimed at him, she feared there was no way he or Cal would make it out alive. Once again he had managed to turn the tide against his enemy, fool the press, make allies out of the Sheriff and his deputies and save young Cal's life. He'd done very well indeed.

A nurse opened the door and stepped up to check on Jane. Frowning slightly, she wrote something on her tablet and checked his eyes as he slept.

"Everything OK?" Teresa asked, seeing a fleeting look of concern on the young nurse's face.

"He's sleeping, which he needs now, but we have to watch him closely because of the concussion. Unfortunately we will have wake him every so often just to make sure he doesn't have any residual brain damage. Just a precaution…" she smiled so as not to alarm Teresa. Too late for that.

"What about the gunshot wound? The doctor didn't tell me very much about that downstairs" Teresa said, glad the nurse could answer some questions.

"Mr. Jane was very lucky to escape with just a surface wound. The bullet didn't penetrate his skull so there is no damage the brain itself or surrounding tissue. There is no intracranial hemorrhage, which would be a devastating injury. The impact of the bullet caused the concussion and he will have a nasty scar under his hair, but barring any unforeseen complications, he should recover well if he rests and takes it easy."

"You don't know Mr. Jane like I do! He'll be angling to get out of here as soon as he wakes up!" Lisbon admitted. "So he's OK to stay asleep now?" she worried out loud.

"Yes, we'll just take note of the time and come back to wake him if he sleeps too long. Try not to worry" the young woman assured Teresa. Smiling weakly at this new turn of events, Teresa was distracted by a buzzing in her pocket. She stood up to take the call from Cho.

"Hey Cho, what's up?"

"I'm still over here at St. Augustine's. Backup is on the way with the wagon. As soon as it gets here we're taking Miriam into custody. The evidence found at the house backs up Cal's story and most likely will match what Jane has told you" he said.

"Jane hasn't told me anything yet, he's fast asleep. And I don't want to wake him up either, not until I have to" she warned Cho in case he pushed the point.

"No worries, let him sleep. Hey, we're on our way over there as soon as Miriam has been taken to lockup."

"Why?"

"To see you and Jane. OK with you?" .

"Sure, see you soon."

"Bye Cho!"

Lisbon put away her phone and stood beside Patrick's bed. His face looked peaceful under the thick white bandage swathing his head, the stress, pain and bravado gone, for now. He didn't have to put up a good front, show everyone he hadn't been scared for most of the day that he might die at the hands of a lunatic.

"Sleep as long as you want Patrick" she whispered in his ear. She took his tea and started to sip it. No point wasting it and she could always make him a fresh cup as soon as he woke up, whenever that might be.

(St. Augustine Hospital)

Cho looked up when the elevator dinged and a small contingent of uniforms stepped out. The paddy wagon was downstairs at the back of the hospital, and if they could get their prisoner off the floor without causing undue distress for the staff and patients, it would be a good afternoon all around.

Cho waved the men over and conferred with them. When they all agreed to the plan Cho took two of the most intimidating men with him into Miriam's room. The camera was still set up, so Cho hit 'record' to document his statement to the recalcitrant woman and the actual arrest. She was reclining on the bed, eyes closed and relaxing, waiting for her supper. Cho's stern voice woke her with a jolt from her reverie.

"Ms. Hoekstra, you are under arrest. Please cooperate and we'll get this done quietly and simply. If you do not cooperate, we will put you into restraints, do you understand?" Cho said to the astonished woman as she stared at him and the two officers by the door. How dare those men come in here when she was barely dressed! She couldn't understand why Cho had come back with reinforcements. When he and Calvin had left her room earlier, she had convinced herself that they believed her story, so she wasn't afraid, wasn't even worried. She had had a nice little nap. But now, what the hell was this? She had become completely delusional.

"No you can't arrest me! Arrest Calvin! He's the murderer, not me!"

Cho stepped up to the bed and started to unlock the handcuff.

'Ah...that's better…' Miriam thought. "About time you came to your senses!" she admonished Cho. She beamed at the other officers standing watch, assured that Cho was correcting a huge injustice. As soon as her wrist swung free, Miriam grabbed her robe and swung her legs over the far side of the bed.

"Now get out of my room, all of you!" she ordered the assembled cops watching impassively from her doorway. Turning to Cho, she scowled, furious at the indignity he had committed against her.

"I'll have your badge for what you did to me young man. False accusations and falsely arresting me! I'll see you in court!" she warned him, finger wagging in his face.

"Yes you will Ms. Hoekstra" replied Cho, smiling at the irony of it all. "You can come peacefully or not, but you are now in my custody" he reminded her. A look of outrage lit up Miriam's face, and for the first time, real fear that she could not stop this agent. Nothing she said would sway him. Cho stepped forward.

"Place your hands behind your back Ms. Hoekstra" Cho instructed her. "Let's do this quietly."

Miriam flew into a panic. She was really being arrested! Her first instinct was to run, but the only way out was past those two big men. They wouldn't dare touch her! Instinct took over as she darted across the room and shoved one of the men aside, desperate to get to the door. Both of the beefy policemen grabbed her and held her firmly between them, then one twisted her arm behind her back. She screeched in alarm and outrage as they moved her to the wall and pinned her there for Cho to finish cuffing her.

"Let me go you bastards! I'll have you arrested for doing this to me!" she screamed, fighting and kicking against the two mountainous men. They stood impassively while Cho approached her once again with handcuffs, and this time, shackles. While held against the wall with her hands pulled behind her back by the officers, Cho cuffed her and shackled her ankles together. There was no way they would allow her the tiniest chance to make a run for it. At a signal from one of the agents, a wheelchair was brought in by two cops and Miriam was forced into it and tied down. A blanket was pulled over her robe and then she was wheeled out, screaming and crying for someone to save her. The police wheeled her to the service elevator as a few curious onlookers peered out from patient rooms and the nurse's station. In a few minutes, it was all over. Miriam would be taken to the FBI jail where she would be suited up in a prison jumpsuit and incarcerated until she could be interrogated at length.

Cho smiled at Cal, who had watched his Aunt taken away in handcuffs with immense satisfaction. Now if he only knew if his sister was alive.

"I'm on my way over to Austin General to see Jane. Want to come with me or do you just want to go home?"

Cal had no intention of returning home today. That house was a ruin to him now. As soon as he could get his stuff and snakes out of there, he would move to a new, fresh place where the only memories would be good ones.

"Nah, there's nothing there for me anymore. I'll go with you. It would be nice to see Mr. Jane again" he said. As they stepped into the elevator, Cho's cell phone rang with a call from Abbott.

"Cho."

"Meet me downstairs in the lobby. I've got news about Adrianna" Abbott said cryptically.

"Will do" Cho answered non-committally, not wanting to alert Calvin in case it was all bad news. With that Cho and Cal took the elevator down and searched out Abbott. Dennis was waiting for them with a smile, something Cho hadn't seen all day.

"Cal, Cho, let's sit for a moment" Dennis suggested, walking to a row of hard plastic chairs.

"How're you holding up Cal?" Dennis asked the sad young man.

"OK I guess. My Aunt was arrested, but she still won't say what she did with my sister. How will we find her?" he asked, looking desolate.

"I've got some news about your sister Calvin. Adrianna was found by two young boys on their father's ranch. Turns out Miriam threw Adrianna down a well and left her for dead."

Cal looked as if he wanted to punch something, or someone. "That bitch!" he yelled, assuming the worst. "She just keeps killing and killing!" he wailed, horrified at his sister's fate.

"Sshh, she's OK Cal, they found her alive! She was choppered to Austin General about 20 minutes ago and should be there by now, getting checked out" said Abbott, grinning at Cho and a suddenly thrilled Calvin.

"Alive? Really? She made it?" Cal repeated, stunned and overcome with relief. He had to calm down to take it all in.

Cho just grinned and shook Abbott's hand. This day had ended so well, that is, if Adrianna wasn't too badly injured.

"It's over isn't it?" Cal asked the two smiling agents. "It's really over and we're safe. She can't ever hurt us again" he said in disbelief.

"She'll never hurt anyone again" Cho told Cal, feeling so sorry for what the young man had suffered at the hands of his insane Aunt.

Suddenly standing up, Calvin headed for the door, almost running in his haste to get to the other side of the city.

"Wait for us!" laughed Abbott, striding after Calvin as he waited by the main door. "We've got the car, remember?"

The three men got into the black FBI SUV and pulled out of the parking lot to fight the traffic that snarled the busy downtown streets. Abbott reached under the seat and pulled out the portable flashing light to put on top of his car. Might as well get there as soon as possible!

(Austin General)

The helicopter landed on the rooftop helipad and a medical team was waiting for Adrianna when she was taken off the chopper on a gurney. In minutes she was whisked inside and downstairs to an examining room. The ER doctor knew she needed an anti-venom shot immediately, and as soon as she was stabilized, it was administered. They were just on the thin line of saving her as it had been hours since Miriam slashed her with the venom soaked knife. A team of nurses and doctors began their painstaking examination of her to get her stabilized and ready for surgery. She was very cold and incoherent, babbling about angels and her parents, saying goodbye to her brother in a muddled stream of whispered conversation that mostly made no sense.

By the time Adrianna was in triage being evaluated, Abbott, Cho and Cal arrived searching the ER for her. Flashing his badge, Abbott asked after the young woman who had just been choppered in. After a few inquiries, he headed to the corner of the ER where Adrianna was being closely examined. A portable x-ray unit rattled by him and into her room. Expecting to wait for a while, he called Lisbon and invited her down to wait with him. When he told her the good news about Adrianna's rescue, it was all she could do not to shout with joy, but she didn't want to wake Jane, so she just squeaked her elation.

"I'll be right there" she answered. Checking Jane once more, she figured she had a while yet before he would emerge from his well deserved rest.

Abbott sat down waiting for Lisbon to arrive and to find out how Adrianna was doing. He felt sure they had found her in time, but aside from her broken leg, he was unsure what other injuries she had suffered. A few minutes after he called her, Lisbon appeared, beaming with happiness. Everyone had survived the murderous Miriam Hoekstra. Cho and Calvin sat huddled with Dennis.

"How is she?" Lisbon asked, sitting next to Abbott.

"No idea, I'm still waiting to speak to her doctor."

"I left Jane asleep upstairs, so as soon as I find out how things are going here, I'll go back and sit with him if you don't mind" Lisbon told her boss.

"No problem, and when he wakes up, you can tell him all of the latest news. Should make him pretty happy."

Their conversation ended abruptly when they heard a door open. A short, friendly man approached them, smiling deeply.

"Are you here for Adrianna? I'm Doctor Hassani."

"Yes, I'm her brother, and these are the FBI agents who were looking for her" said Cal, standing up to shake the doctor's outstretched hand. "How is she?"

"Well first let me tell you that she is a very strong, brave girl. She suffered a broken leg in the fall down the well. That will require surgery to repair, but at her age, we anticipate a complete recovery. We also treated her for coral snake venom. She was exhibiting some early symptoms of the venom in her system, but we were able to help her with that. We were fortunately in time with the anti-venom. She also arrived suffering from the effects of the cold water in the well so we need to keep her warm and hydrated."

"So she's going to be OK?" Cal asked again.

"Yes yes...in time. Right now she is a bit confused. She thought the firefighter who pulled her out of the well was an angel, so when she came to in here she was somewhat disappointed in being back here on earth. I'm sure that will pass" the doctor laughed.

"Can I see her?" Cal asked, so relieved and happy that he thought he would burst.

'Yes, but just for a very short visit. She is lightly sedated and in pain, and we need to take her upstairs for surgery. But go ahead."

Cal nodded his thanks and followed the doctor across the hall, then disappeared into his sister's room.

Abbott and Cho conferred on Miriam Hoekstra's arrest, then decided to wait for Cal to come out and see that he got settled somewhere safe for the night. Lisbon said her goodbyes now that she had heard the good news about Adrianna, then she rode the elevator up to Jane's floor to wait for him to awaken. The stress of the day had finally come to an end. Or so she thought.

Jane was slowly trying to wake up. His body sent signals to his brain that all was not well. His dizziness had returned with a vengeance as his mind woke up, but his stomach was in knots, sick and acid-filled. When Lisbon got back to his room she found him swishing his legs back and forth across the mattress in agitation as his face showed signs of distress, even though he was still mostly asleep. Lisbon noticed he was swallowing and swallowing, as if something was stuck in his throat.

She ran her hand across his forehead and noticed it was hot and clammy. As she watched he seemed to be struggling to breathe, his chest rising and falling faster and faster. At this rate he would hyperventilate.

"Jane! Jane wake up!" Lisbon said as she shook him, getting worried. His normally tanned and healthy colouring had faded into a pale, ashen appearance. Jane's eyes fluttered open and he moaned, grasping his stomach.

"Jane are you alright? Are you going to be sick?" Lisbon asked, afraid he would throw up at any moment. Jane pulled his legs up to his chest and couldn't speak, as he was desperately trying to keep the contents of his stomach down. As his moans increased in strength, Lisbon ran to the door and called for a nurse. She ran back to the bed to grab a basin for Jane to be sick in, as he started to pant and sweat, his colour turning pinker and pinker as he became flushed. He still hadn't managed to get his eyes open.

"Help is coming OK Patrick?" Teresa assured him, desperate for a nurse to show up. His only response was a heart rending groan of agony. The sound of the door opening was a blessed relief to Teresa as his young nurse quickly stepped up to Jane's bed. Teresa's police skills of observation kicked in automatically.

"He's hyperventilating, seems nauseous, isn't talking but seems to be struggling with his breathing!" Teresa informed her in a rush. The nurse checked his temperature and blood pressure, eyes and skin, then rang the buzzer for assistance. A moment later a doctor came in and Lisbon was asked to leave. As she stepped out into the hall the sound of retching came from Jane's room. He was so sick!

Thank God he hadn't gone home!

Teresa waited outside Patrick's room as the door opened and closed with the comings and goings of nurses carrying a tray of medicine and a syringe, an IV pole and fluids. Teresa stood alone in the hall worried sick about Patrick. After what seemed like an eternity, the sounds of vomiting abated, and the doctor emerged from Patrick's room. Teresa stopped him before he walked away.

"How is he doctor? What's wrong?"

"Are you a family member?"

"Yes, we live together" Lisbon said simply.

"Well, it appears that Mr. Jane had an allergic reaction to the antivenom he was given earlier today. It's a side effect we anticipate. For some snake bite victims it can cause a rash, or severe breathing problems, a racing heart, nausea, several things actually, even anaphylactic shock. We gave him some medication to counteract those symptoms. He is very dizzy, partly from his concussion, but also from his allergic reaction. We'll watch him closely tonight to make sure this doesn't happen again" the doctor explained.

"It could happen again?"

"Yes, sometimes, but please don't worry, we will be watching Mr. Jane for any relapses."

"But the venom won't hurt him anymore?" Lisbon pressed the doctor.

"We will watch him to make sure he doesn't require another treatment of anti-venom" the doctor said vaguely. "For now, he will soon feel better and sleep" he said kindly.

"OK...thank you...can I go in and sit with him?" Lisbon asked, a little shocked at what the doctor had told her.

"I'm sure that would be very reassuring for him. Go ahead but keep him still and calm. His stomach is still pretty upset and he's quite sick. "

"Thank you" Lisbon said, then walked over to his door. Pushing it open quietly, she stepped inside to find him laying semi-reclined, his eyes screwed shut and his colour still high, but not quite so red now. A wet cloth was on his forehead and the nurse was adjusting an IV line beside his bed. Lisbon gave her a quick smile as she sat down next to Jane's bed. When the nurse was finished her work and left, Teresa grasped Jane's hand and gave it a little squeeze. Jane squeezed back gently. He knew she was there.

"I'm so sorry you feel so bad. Take it easy OK? Just rest and I'll be right here" she said softly, gently rubbing the back of his hand.

Jane nodded ever so slightly, any motion the catalyst for another bout of nausea.

"Sorry" he said almost inaudibly.

Teresa stood up and gently kissed his cheek. "Nothing to be sorry about. Just get better OK?"

"Mmmm" he answered, not daring to speak. His whole world was spinning and whirling and if he opened his eyes he felt sure he would fall out of the bed. Damned concussion.

"Can you handle some good news Patrick?" Lisbon asked him, hoping to lift his spirits.

"Mmmm" he said.

"Adrianna Hoekstra was found a little while ago outside of the city by two boys. Miriam threw her down an abandoned well, and left her to die there. The boys found her and called for help. She's downstairs right now getting prepped for surgery for a broken leg, but she's going to be fine Patrick, and Miriam is in jail over at the FBI. Everyone is safe, Cal too."

A small smile lifted the corners of Patrick's lips and he gave a weak squeeze to Teresa's hand. He had heard her, he understood. Good.

"Rest now Patrick. I'll be right here if you need me" Teresa said as he finally began to relax. His breathing was slowing down and his colour was gradually returning to normal as the meds kicked in. Teresa refreshed the cool cloth on his head over the next hour or two, then when Jane was deeply asleep, she finally gave herself permission to relax in the armchair in the room, sleep finally winning out over worry.

Lisbon slept through the night, not even stirring when the night nurse came to check Jane every half hour. The medication had stopped his racing heart and most of the nausea. As long as he didn't move around, the spins would remain under control. At first light, Jane cracked his eyes open and turned his head to find his beautiful Teresa curled up under a blanket in the reclining chair beside his bed. A smile traced over his face as he reached out and ran his index finger across her cheek. God he was exhausted. What he remembered of the night wasn't good, but he could clearly remember Teresa being there for him when he felt like death warmed over. His love for her knew no bounds. A phrase reverberated through his tired brain: ' in sickness and in health…'

She would care for him no matter what. Years ago he didn't think anyone would ever love him that much, ever again. But here was this wonderful woman, cramped, tired, uncomfortable and still beside him. He loved her all the more. A nurse quietly entered his room and was pleased to see Jane awake and looking better. As she stepped around Teresa to check his vitals, Teresa awoke with a start, suddenly aware of where she was, and why.

"How's Patrick? Is he OK?" she asked the nurse in a raspy, sleep cloaked voice.

"See for yourself" the young nurse replied, stepping away from Jane to open his curtains.

"Patrick? How're you doing?" Teresa asked, rising out of the chair to grasp his hand.

"Never better" came the whispered reply.

"Liar" she grinned, bending down to kiss his smiling lips. "Are you still dizzy?"

"Yeah...a bit. The room is spinning, but not as much as last night" he admitted.

"That's just the concussion working itself out" the nurse informed them both.

Teresa sat gently on the side of Patrick's bed and grasped his hand while she leaned in to kiss his lips softly. He didn't dare move much in response, but he murmured his approval all the same.

"Oh a scale of one to ten Mr. Jane, how bad are the spins this morning?" the nurse asked him.

"4" he lied, trying to keep his eyes from jiggling round and round.

The nurse came over with her pen light and shone the beam into his eyes.

"More lik suspect, but that will improve" she grinned, knowing he was playing games with her.

"No use trying to fool this one Jane, she's good!" Teresa teased him.

The nurse finished her checkup while Teresa stood by the window waiting to rejoin Patrick. When the nurse was done, she left the two of them alone once again.

"You know that won't work this time Patrick, and I don't want you leaving until you are feeling much better."

Patrick screwed up his face and gave Teresa his most pathetic grimace.

"Meany…" he whispered.

"Yes I am, so you'd better get used to it Mister" she replied, unmoved by his attempts to convince her to help him escape the hospital before he was ready.

As for Jane, he had no intention of spending another night in the hospital, not if he had any say in the matter. But for now, he would be content just to be able to focus his eyes on Teresa's sweet face. As soon as he could stand up and walk without falling over, he would make a pain out of himself to get discharged. However, for now, he hated to admit it, but this bed felt pretty great.


	25. The Road to Recovery

This one's for you Rosepeony. Safe travels and I hope you see this before you leave!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 25

The Road to Recovery

Calvin had spent a few minutes with Adrianna the previous night before she was wheeled upstairs into surgery. She was becoming more awake and knew that she had been rescued by a firefighter, not an angel, and when Cal walked in, she shed genuine tears of joy. To put her mind at rest, he told her that not only had they survived, but Mr. Jane was alive and would soon recover from his injuries. He would tell her his fantastic story of the events on the bridge when she was stronger and more alert, but for now, she knew everyone had survived their murderous Aunt. Cal also told her that Tante Miriam had been arrested and taken away in shackles. The shock of this news registered on the young woman's face. This was just so much to take in considering her weak condition, but as the idea of their safety sank in, she gave Cal a beaming smile.

"We're going to be OK Cal. She can't hurt anyone now" she assured him.

"I love you 'Dri" Cal whispered in her ear as he bent down to kiss her cheek.

"I love you too little brother" she replied, smiling sleepily.

Before they could talk anymore the medical team had to ask Cal to step back so that his sister could be taken to the OR. Watching his sister disappear into the elevator, he felt an odd combination of relief and sadness. His sister would survive, but they were alone in world, just the two of them remaining out of the entire Hoekstra family in Texas. Tante Miriam would spend the rest of her life in prison, or worse. Cal called a friend to wait with him while Adrianna was in surgery, then found his way to the OR waiting room. He had plenty of time to evaluate his relationship with Adri while he waited. What this terrible episode had taught them both was that they had to push aside any differences they thought they had, and just love each other again. Soon Abbott came to sit with him for a while and talk quietly. When his friend came to join Cal, Abbott said his goodbyes and left the hospital. Finally, late at night, Cal and his buddy left the hospital to finally get some rest, Cal's determination never to sleep in his house again set in stone.

(FBI)

Miriam's short trip from her hospital room to the elevator was an exercise in shame and extreme rage. For two and a half years she had murdered relatives who angered her or got in her way, without any repercussions, so she had come to believe that she was invincible. Now that her world was falling apart, and her lies had been exposed, she had nothing to fall back on but rage. Screaming obscenities at her handlers, she pulled at her restraints all the way down to the ground floor, to the waiting paddy wagon that would transport her to the cell with her name on it at FBI headquarters. As she was wheeled out of the building she caught sight of armed guards standing at the back of the large black rectangular prisoner transfer vehicle and she felt the bottom fall out of her world. This was really happening. She was really under arrest and no amount of pleading, crying, hystrionics or acting was going to save her from the indignities coming her way. She was roughly pulled up from her wheelchair and jostled into the back of the large van where she was forced to sit on the hard cold steel bench seat. An agent chained her handcuffs to a ring in the floor while an armed guard sat impassively across from her, his weapon casually resting on his knee, ready to be used at the slightest indication of an escape attempt. Miriam was terrified.

The ride through Austin was too short as far as Miriam was concerned, as it represented her last moments outside in the real world. Eventually the ride ended at the lower garage level of an imposing building just outside of the downtown core. The back doors of the vehicle were pulled open and another armed guard entered the dark space. While he held a gun on her the other guard unlocked her chain and stood her up. Both men then grasped her by her upper arms and forced her to step out of the van. Two more officers joined them and surrounded by the four burly agents, Miriam was quickly marched to an elevator where she was whisked away to the floor containing cells for prisoners waiting for interrogation or transfer to a prison. The whole humiliating process of being strip searched, photographed, fingerprinted and dressed in a dull grey prison jumpsuit took the very last shred of dignity and self respect out of the harried woman. By the time she was led handcuffed to her cell, all she wanted to do was curl up on her bunk facing the wall and die. She wanted to die rather than face the men who would no doubt spend hours interrogating her about her family and her crimes. Yes death would be preferable to that demeaning interrogation, and the thought that she would ultimately end up in prison was just too much to contemplate. No, she would prefer to just die, right now, on the spot without ever admitting to her crimes. She was a coward.

Now that she was in a cell, the sheer terror she felt at being incarcerated and at the mercy of armed strangers rendered her mute. As a psychopath, Miriam wasn't capable of remorse, it was an emotion that had somehow never developed in her, but fear, she was well acquainted with. For her, fear was always something to be nurtured, cultivated and used against her family members, and their fear in their last moments of life gave her power. Now, fear was a weapon that would be used against her, both here in the holding cell, and later, as she knew she would never be free again, fear would rule her life in prison. She slumped down on the thin mattress in her grey cell and stared into space, her dream of being the sole survivor of the entire Hoekstra clan dashed to pieces. Yes she was afraid, and would be every day until her last breath. A long night of terrors awaited her, both real and imagined. By the morning, she would be a greatly diminished woman. At some point her fear was replaced by exhaustion and she fell into a restless sleep.

As the noise of a new day awakened her, she gazed at her surroundings, the memory of the previous day slamming into her again, both its successes and failures. She knew exactly who to blame for her current predicament: Agent Jane. Without him snooping around, Cal and Adri would be dead and hidden away in the hill country outside Austin right now, and she would eventually be declared the last surviving Hoekstra. The importing empire would be hers without a struggle… But reality intruded on her musings. She was stuck in this tiny, cold, grey cell, in an itchy ill-fitting prisoner's jumpsuit. A steel toilet sat mutely mocking her in the corner. She glared at it, knowing she would have to swallow what remained of her pride and use it, not knowing who was watching. It was a feeling she would soon get used to.

(Hoekstra House)

Cho had spent the morning at the Hoekstra house with a team collecting evidence which would incriminate Miriam Hoekstra. The team left Cal's snake room alone, waiting for him to come back and deal with that himself, then, under the watchful eye of the FBI, he could remove his snakes and let the agents inspect that room too. As Cho and his fellow agents dug deeper into the private realm of Miriam Hoekstra, more and more sick memorabilia from her dead family members was uncovered. She had taken items from Cal and Adrianna that they had not yet realized were missing. An old diary of Adri's was found in a bottom drawer; Cal's old report cards were neatly stacked on the upper shelf of her closet; Klaas Hoekstra's birthday cards sent to Miriam over many years were tied with a pink ribbon. Miriam had gone out of her way to save whatever she could that had once belonged to her dear mother, but not so many things that her father had used. Her feelings for him were confused, conflicted, a deadly mix of love and hatred. Absolutely nothing of Henny's had been uncovered. She had hated the woman for the simple sin of marrying Miriam's brother. And for that, she had to die.

An old laptop was found under Miriam's bed, and once Jason Wylie got into it, even more of the inner workings of that evil woman's mind were revealed. She had kept a diary of sorts in secret file, a free flowing, random assortment of thoughts and comments for her own pleasure and as a reminder of things to do. Her to do list? Get rid of her family members, one by one. This one piece of evidence was in itself incriminating enough to convict her of first degree murder even without the rest of the evidence Jane had deduced.

Agents in hazmat suits checked every inch of the house for evidence to be used in the investigation. As scandalized neighbours watched, a constant flow of white suited people left the Hoekstra house carrying cardboard boxes of items deemed important to the case. An envelope addressed to Adrianna and Calvin had been found hidden under Miriam's mattress and was handed over to Dennis Abbott for his perusal. What he found inside left him shaken.

(Austin General Hospital)

Teresa stayed with Patrick until he dozed off for a nap, then she left him a note and went home for a quick shower and something to eat. She wasn't afraid for his life anymore, but knew that she would have to work at keeping him in the hospital as long as was necessary. Boredom would be his chief adversary, more so than pain or dizziness. To combat that enemy, Teresa gathered up a new book Jane had been keen to read, plus puzzle books and a laptop for him to search out websites of interest. It would have to do until he could get up and walk out of there unaided.

Jane slept a for a good hour and when he awoke, he found Dennis Abbott waiting for him at his bedside.

"Jane...nice to see you awake" he smiled, reaching for his hand to shake it.

"Nice to be able to wake up" Jane agreed. He reached for a button and pushed it to raise the head of his bed. As he slowly rose up to meet his visitor, Jane cautiously anticipated the spins, which did come, but mercifully, they were much less than the day before.

"How are you feeling today?" Dennis asked.

Jane took a moment to do an inventory of his physical condition.

"Ahh...not so bad. A bit dizzy, but better than yesterday. I understand I was pretty sick last night" he admitted.

"So I heard" Abbott said. "Lisbon filled me in on your allergic reaction to the anti-venom."

"Ah yes...that. Not thrilled about that" Jane agreed. "What's the latest on Miriam Hoekstra?" he asked, changing the subject away from himself.

"She was taken away to our holding cells kicking and screaming, swearing Cal was the murderer, not her" Abbott said with a shake of his head.

"Well we all know that's not true" Jane said.

"Did Teresa get your statement for the record yet?"

"No...I was too sick yesterday. But if you want to do it now it's fine with me" said Jane, keen to be part of the process to incriminate Miriam.

"Are you sure you're up to it?"

"Absolutely. Fire away!" Jane said, sitting up straighter, feeling invigorated.

Abbott took out a small recording device and turned it on. They spent the next twenty minutes going over everything that had happened to Jane from the moment he entered the Hoekstra house to the time Jane was shot on the bridge. As they were finishing up, the door opened and Teresa stepped into the room with tea and bagels. Seeing her boss, she sat down quietly to let he and Jane finish their debriefing session. Jane gratefully took a cup of tea from her and sipped it while answering Abbott's last few questions. Everything Jane said matched Calvin's story completely, and would no doubt be matched by Adrianna's recollection of events once she was well enough to tell her story.

Abbott stood up to get back to the office, anticipating a much calmer day than the chaos of the last 48 hours.

"Take care of him Lisbon. I don't want to see either of you at work for the next little while" Dennis said cheerfully. How long a 'little while' was going to be would be up to Lisbon and her abilities to keep Jane home and content. A big challenge.

"Thanks Dennis" Patrick said as the large man quietly exited the room. Teresa sipped her tea and nibbled a bagel of her own, looking refreshed and happy.

"I stopped in on the medical floor on the way here and asked after Adrianna. They wouldn't tell me much since I'm not family, but I did find out that she got through surgery very well and is resting comfortably."

"Excellent" Jane said thoughtfully. "I want to go and visit her, later, when she's had a chance to get settled" he added.

"Are you up to it yourself?" Teresa asked, knowing full well that Jane would insist on going to see Adrianna no matter how he felt. As long as he was upright…

"I'm Ok, really. Once I get my legs under me and I don't fall over I'll be able to go and see her."

"Ah ha! So you are still dizzy!" Teresa exclaimed like she had caught him with his hand in the cookie jar.

Jane leaned back with his tea securely grasped in both hands and scowled at his lovely partner.

"Yes, if you must know, I am, just a bit. But not enough to incarcerate me here for another day. I intend to sleep in my own bed tonight woman!" he informed her.

"Oh really? Well don't get your hopes up yet. Let's see how you handle a real meal and a short walk. Then we'll revisit this discussion" Teresa smiled.

Patrick winked at her and finished off his bagel, his hunger satiated for the moment. He had ignored his breakfast tray and knew that Teresa would bring in something much more palatable if he waited long enough.

"Oh by the way, I brought your navy pajamas just in case you do have to spend another day or two in here" Teresa said, reaching into her large satchel and pulling out his classically tailored nightwear. "Not that I don't find your little gown very attractive, but it leaves almost nothing to the imagination for your visitors" she smirked.

"It does get breezy" Patrick mumbled, clearly uncomfortable at being so scantily dressed.

Jane's expression perked up as he reached his hands out for his favourite blue pajamas, then he threw the bedding back to reveal two long and naked legs. A large dressing surrounded his slashed calf but it wasn't impeding his movement any longer.

Teresa grinned and tossed the pj's towards Jane and watched as he struggled to get off the bed, wobbling more than he could manage to hide from her scrutiny. She came around and put her arms around his upper body for stability.

"Come on, let's get you into those sexy pajamas" she cooed, guiding him to a standing position. Then he attempted his first steps in many many hours.

Jane was surprised at how much effort it took to get from point A to point B. His legs worked just fine, but the damned room kept tilting to the left and right just when he wanted to lift a leg and move forward. By the time he got to the bathroom to freshen up and get out of that ridiculous hospital gown, he was queasy and sweating from the effort.

"Need help?" Teresa asked with concern, not wanting to mother him too much. The man had so much pride about his body and his own ability to care for himself.

"Just get me to the sink and I'll be fine. Thank you Teresa, you think of everything" he added kindly, placing a tender kiss on the top of her head.

Once he was safely in the bathroom Teresa sat down in the recliner and placed a call to Cho to check out the investigation so far. When Adrianna was able to tell her side of the story they would have a complete picture of the last two terrifying days.

After 15 minutes Jane opened the door and called for Teresa to come and help him back to his bed. He looked well scrubbed, appeared more confident wearing his pajamas and smelled great, but as he took a wobbly step towards Teresa, Jane knew that he wouldn't be able to walk back to his chair all by himself. This realization crushed any hope he had of going home today.

The short walk back to his bed was exhausting. Teresa studied Jane's face and could see the effort it took for him to stay steady on his feet. That concussion was going to take some time to get over.

"Sit first and then swing your legs up and over" she said softly as she guided him onto the side of the bed. Jane did as he was told without any smart ass comments, as he was focussed on getting back to the security of the large bed. His head was swimming and his stomach was a bit nauseated as a result. God this was tiresome! As he got settled in his bed he lay back against the pillows that Lisbon had rearranged and fluffed up and let out a deep sigh of frustration. Jane kept his eyes tightly closed to make sure he didn't see the room tilt and heave from side to side. As the storm in his head slowly abated, he lay still, holding Teresa's hand as he fought to regain his equilibrium.

"Well that went well…" he whispered sarcastically.

Teresa bent down to place a kiss on his lips, causing him to smile ever so slightly.

"You have two head injuries Patrick, two. So don't let your dizziness depress you. Your brain has to heal and that takes time. Give yourself a chance to recover before you get your hopes up about going home. Please do that for yourself" she suggested softly, worried that he was going to be even more agitated now that he knew for sure that he wasn't nearly well enough to get up and leave.

"Mmmm" he replied non-committally. Teresa sat on the bed next to him and put her arm around his shoulder, content to just be with him while he dealt with this disappointment. Eventually Jane dared to open his eyes and turned to stare at the woman he loved so dearly.

"Thank you for being here" he said, reaching up to stroke her hair. "I love you so much."

A beautiful smile broke across Teresa's face as she bent down to kiss his lips.

"And I love you too."

They both snuggled down in the bed and lay side by side, arms entwined at the wrist, peaceful and safe. There was no need for conversation. Just being in each other's arms was everything they needed right now. Eventually they both slipped into a light sleep and were only awakened when a surprised doctor came in to examine his patient.

"Oh! Good morning Mr. Jane! Sorry to interrupt!" the doctor said with a grin. Lisbon disentangled herself from Jane's embrace and slid off the bed in embarrassment while Patrick rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"G'morning…" came his sleepy response.

"Sorry to interrupt your nap but I just want to see how you're doing this morning" the young doctor said again, approaching the bed with his stethoscope. Jane submitted to his examination while Teresa pretended to look out the window. After checking his vitals, the doctor stood at the side of the bed taking notes for a moment, then turned to Jane with some questions.

"Any dizziness today?"

A huge sigh from Patrick alerted Teresa to his struggle to answer truthfully.

"Yes."

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how dizzy would you say you feel right now?"

"5"

"Did you attempt to get up and walk today?" asked the doctor.

"Yes, to the bathroom and back. It's a very long way…" came Jane's sarcastic answer.

"And how did that walk go for you? Any additional dizziness or nausea?"

Jane knew he had to answer honestly or Teresa would give him the lecture of his life, so he relented and told the truth.

"It went badly. The room kept sliding from side to side. Glad to get back to bed before I threw up" Jane answered in as few words as possible, eyeing the approving look on Teresa's face.

"Ok...not unexpected considering...the blow to the head...the gunshot wound as well…" the doctor said haltingly as he wrote his notes. Snapping his notepad closed, he looked at Jane then Lisbon and smiled kindly.

"I know it's frustrating to be stuck here, but try to be patient. You are still in the early hours of recovery from two fairly serious injuries. Complications can arise to make you very sick and you don't want to have to deal with those at home. So, please, be our guest just a bit longer" he smiled before he left to see his next patient.

Jane turned to stare at Lisbon.

"Did you speak to him about me?"

Teresa threw her hands up in the air and shook her head vehemently.

"Nope, never saw him before. But you've been a patient here a couple of times Jane. They probably looked up your history and know you try to leave before you should. Your past is catching up to you" she added with a smile as she rejoined Patrick at the side of the bed.

"Damned computers…" groused Patrick.

"Just relax and get used to the idea that you'll be here for the next 24 hours, at least!" Teresa admonished him sternly.

"I still want to go and see Adrianna. Maybe if I use a wheelchair?" he asked hopefully.

"Let me speak to her doctors and if they say yes, then I don't see why you couldn't go and visit her today. Might do you both some good" Teresa admitted.

Jane needed to have a purpose, needed to be busy, even if it was just to see for himself that Adrianna was alive and on the mend.

Teresa spent the morning with Jane and only left to find him a decent lunch that he would consider acceptable. Past experience with hospital food left him unwilling to even consider tasting the bland concoctions that emerged from under the lid on his plate when it was brought in. Teresa returned with a container of homemade chicken soup and a crusty croissant from the deli around the corner, accompanied by a raspberry muffin for a snack later. Of course she also brought a delicious cup of Oolong tea. Teresa had also bought a lunch for herself and they spent a pleasant half hour talking and eating, discussing the case that Miriam Hoekstra presented to the judicial system. Prison time was inevitable, but would she merit the death penalty? Thankfully that was a decision that neither Teresa nor Patrick had to contend with. As she threw away the wrappers from their lunch, Teresa could see Patrick's energy flagging.

"Let me help you into the bathroom to brush your teeth and freshen up, then how about you have a nap while I go and talk to Adrianna's doctor? Maybe by the time you wake up we can go and pay her a visit."

"Sounds good to me!" Jane enthused, tired but happier than he'd been earlier that morning when he discovered he wouldn't be going home. Teresa helped him up and together they got to the small bathroom a bit quicker than their last trip had taken. Small steps towards wellness. After cleaning his teeth and attending to nature, Jane and Teresa walked a bit more steadily towards his bed. As she tucked him in, Teresa realized how much like a mother she felt, caring for an ill loved one. It was a feeling she had not experienced since her brothers were left parentless and she had been both mother and father to them. The first stirrings of her maternal instincts in a long time felt good, felt natural. It was about time.

"Try to sleep Patrick. I'll go and talk to the staff about coming down later to see Adrianna. With luck we'll see Calvin too" she added hopefully.

"Good plan" Patrick agreed, reaching up to put his hand around the back of Teresa's neck to pull her in for a long, satisfying kiss.

"Sleep well" she said as she straightened up.

"See you later" Patrick mumbled as he wriggled under the thick white blanket, finding a sweet spot in the bed as tiredness overtook him.

Teresa quietly exited the room, casting one last look back at the handsome man she was blessed to love so intensely. He opened his eyes to give her a quick smile then closed them again and pulled up the sheet. He never heard the door close.


	26. Another Betrayal

Reviews are the lifeblood of any writer and I want to thank those readers who took the time to review my last chapter. If you are a reader who has never sent a review, why not let me know how you like the story? I see that I have readers from around the world, so it would be fun to hear from some of you who are so far away!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 26

Another Betrayal

Adrianna was resting quietly in her bed, gazing at the gauzy wrappings around her leg. Until the stitches, staples and drainage tubes came out she would have to wait for a solid cast to be applied to her surgically repaired leg. Her arm was also encircled in heavy white bandages where the knife had slashed her. But instead of pain, she felt euphoria, not from morphine, which was pretty great, nor from any drugs at all, but from the sheer joy of being alive. She had no memory of her rescue except for a vague idea that there were angels at the well. How that was possible she couldn't imagine. As she lay back trying to remember that day while gazing out of her window at the blue sky and puffy white clouds floating above Austin, a small knock on her door pulled her attention back to the real world.

"Come in!"

Calvin poked his head in the room and broke out in a broad smile, a huge bouquet of tulips, hydrangeas and freesia in his hands.

"Hey 'Dri! How're ya doing?" he asked as he walked over to her bed. Before she could answer he planted a big kiss on her forehead.

"Let me look at you" he said, standing and staring at her in gratitude that she had survived her terrible ordeal at the bottom of the well. Adrianna blushed at the attention, then nudged him teasingly and pointed at his gift.

"Oh yeah...I hope you like these flowers Sis, I had a hard time choosing" he started to say.

"They're perfect - I love them!" she answered before he could express any more doubt as to his flower buying abilities. "Here, put them in this" she suggested, pointing to a vase supplied by the hospital in the cupboard by the bed.

Cal got busy getting water from the sink and soon had the arrangement sitting on her table. All busy work done now, he came and sat beside Adrianna, the happiest he had been in years. Taking her hand in his, he ran his thumb over the back of her pale skin, thinking about how he almost lost her. Suddenly tongue tied, he didn't know where to begin even though he had so much to say. His sister could tell he was struggling.

"Cal…"

"Yes Adrianna?"

"I love you."

Cal absorbed her words, the words he needed so much right now. And that was it, the dam in his heart burst and he lost control of his emotions. Cal stared at his beautiful sister and couldn't help the tears that ran down his face. Standing up suddenly he leaned over her small body and hugged her as hard as he dared.

"Oh Adrianna, I love you too...so much...I was so scared...I thought I'd lost you" he cried, letting the emotion of the past two days finally wash over him without reservation, without shame.

They held onto each other for a long time, both of them weeping for joy, for grief, for release from their agonizing worry for each other. It had all been too much and they had almost died at the hands of the one person they thought would love them. Family was supposed to take care of you, not kill you.

Wiping his eyes on his sleeve, Cal laughed in embarrassment then handed Adri a tissue to wipe her eyes as well.

"What a couple of blubberers we are!" she laughed as she dried her face. She felt so much better seeing her brother safe and sound again.

"So, are you OK? Nothing broken or worse?" she asked, concerned for his health.

"Nah, I'm fine. Just the knife wound from Miriam, but I'll live."

"How's Mr. Jane Calvin? Have you seen him yet since he got shot?"

Calvin shook his head, no. He felt bad about that but so far Adri had been his main concern.

"What exactly happened to you and Mr. Jane Cal? I only know Tante Miriam took you away and that Mr. Jane got shot. How did that happen?"

Calvin sat down and held her hand while he told Adrianna the whole story, from the trip to the bridge, to the orders to hold Jane at knifepoint for all the world to see. He explained the idea Jane had come up with to substitute real bullets with dummy rounds and how well that worked, until some yahoo used his own gun to shoot at the men from the crowd of onlookers. Upon hearing that Adri's hand flew up to her face in shock.

"Oh my God Cal! So some random guy shot Mr. Jane? Is he under arrest?"

"Yes, he is. He'll be charged with attempted second degree murder. Mr. Jane got shot in the head but he will recover from what I've been told."

Adrianna couldn't believe her ears. What a nightmare this all was.

"Shot in the head. I can't believe it...all he wanted to do was help us find out who killed our parents and Oma and Opa. We were living with a murderer all along…" said Adri with horror.

"Well as soon as I'm allowed how about I go and visit Mr. Jane and see how he's doing?" suggested Calvin.

"Good. Say hello from me and tell him that we appreciate everything he tried to do to save us" Adrianna told him. While they talked, Dennis Abbott was on his way over to the hospital to check up on Jane and Adrianna. He carried a very important item with him. Cal stayed with Adri until she began to tire and he reluctantly got up to leave.

"Don't worry about the business Adri. I plan on going over every day and seeing that everything keeps running smoothly while you're in here" he told her. "We have a big shipment coming in and I want to make sure it's unpacked and checked in correctly. I'll get the stock manager to help me get everything unpacked and ready for shipping out to our customers."

"Thanks Cal. I know you'll take good care of things for me. For us…" she corrected herself. The business wasn't hers. It was theirs. There was no way she could ever run Hoekstra Importing without Cal's help, she could see that now. Stifling a yawn, she ran her hand through his hair and gave Cal a quick kiss on the cheek as he bent down to say goodbye.

"I should go and let you rest. We've got lots of time to catch up. I have some errands to run and I'll be right back, OK?" he suggested.

"Hurry back" she said, suddenly sorry to see him leave.

"I will. Get some rest Sis" he smiled as he walked to the door. "I'll bring you some Droppies when I come back!"

"You'd better!" she teased him. "And bring a big bag of Drop for Mr. Jane as well!"

"Will do. Bye!" And then he was gone.

Adrianna lay back and couldn't stop grinning. She and Cal had been strangers to each other for so long that she was thrilled to have him back again, the little brother she had always loved. It took a tragedy to make her realize what a wonderful man he had become. She closed her eyes to think over everything Cal had told her about his horrendous trial on the bridge. The pain in her leg was beginning to grow stronger so she hit the pain pump to administer some more morphine before she drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Whatever Miriam had done to them she would now suffer tenfold herself in prison or in hell, whichever came first.

Dennis Abbott drove through the crush of midtown traffic on his way back to Austin General Hospital. He had waited until after lunch to give Lisbon all morning alone with Jane, but now he wanted to see the man again. His sources had told him that the farmer who shot Jane had been processed by Sheriff Arkell and would sit in jail until his court date. Unless he got the world's most expensive and devious lawyer, the man would do serious jail time. Abbott hoped it would send a strong message to anyone else in Texas that they couldn't take the law into their own hands. He pulled up to the visitor's parking lot and sauntered into the hospital. A short elevator ride later, he arrived on Jane's floor and made his way to his room.

Patrick had slept well after Teresa left that morning and looked forward to seeing her again to have someone to talk to and just to break up the long boring hours he faced alone in his hideous green room. Why on earth did hospitals have to be painted like the inside of a sick man's stomach? A knock on his door caught his attention and a moment later Abbott stepped into his room.

"Dennis! Good to see you again. I was almost reduced to turning on daytime TV!" Jane greeted him, waving him over to the chair beside the window. "I'm just waiting for Lisbon to come back."

"Glad to be of service. Wow, that's some bruise you've got there!" Dennis said, looking at the large black and blue stain spilling across the side of Jane's face. Jane absentmindedly raised his hand up to pat the bruise that was finally turning a frightening colour. Miriam's gun had done some serious damage to his face.

"I know. I better stay away from small kids. I'll scare them."

"Are you feeling better than this morning?"

"Every hour my dizziness gets less and less. I'm going to attempt another walk with Teresa later this afternoon. Get my sea legs working" Jane smiled.

"Good to hear it. We have Miriam in lockup and she is one furious woman. I'm going to let Cho have a go at her today. Should be interesting to see if she still tries to blame Calvin for the murders."

"Wish I could be there to watch through the glass" Jane said wistfully. "I couldn't convince you to wait until tomorrow could I?" he pleaded to his boss.

"There's no guarantee you'll be out of here by tomorrow Jane, otherwise maybe we could find some reason to hold off. I know it would drive Miriam wild to see you standing there when she is brought in!" said Abbott, smiling in spite of himself.

"Delay then, just in case I get sprung! Just to see the look on her face...it would be priceless…" Jane mused.

The door opened and Teresa stepped in carrying a tray with fresh juice bottles and some cookies.

"Hi Dennis! Can't stay away?"

"Teresa. I'm on my way to see Adrianna and Calvin, so I thought I'd drop by again. Jane here is trying his best to get me to delay Cho's interrogation of Miriam Hoekstra until tomorrow on the off-chance he gets discharged. He wants to be there to watch."

"Yes he's ever hopeful that one is" Teresa said brightly, shaking her head. "Although I have to admit I'd like to see that interview myself."

"It's settled then... wait another day and let Miriam stew, maybe find a lawyer, then put her in a room with Cho. Let us all watch! Come on Dennis...you know you want to!" Jane cajoled the large man.

Abbott shook his head in false dismay. "I don't know how you put up with him" he said with dramatic sympathy to Lisbon.

"Believe me, it's an ongoing saga" said Lisbon, pouring juice for everyone.

"Um hello! I'm right here!" said Jane, pretending to be insulted. But he wasn't fooling anyone. They all knew what he was like.

"OK, tell you what. I'll try to delay the interview on some bit of mumbo jumbo, and if you are out of here by tomorrow afternoon, come over to headquarters and watch the show. Good enough?" Abbott offered.

"Yes, thank you!" Jane beamed, elated now that he had two wonderful things to anticipate in the morning.

Lisbon handed out juice and cookies and they all settled back for a good visit before Abbott finally consulted his watch and announced it was time to visit Adrianna.

"Please let her know we plan on coming to see her today as well" Jane said as Dennis made his way over to the door.

"OK, will do. Take it easy Jane, and listen to Teresa. Fingers crossed, we'll see you in the bullpen tomorrow afternoon. Oh and maybe borrow some of Teresa's makeup for that bruise" Abbott teased.

"Thanks! Bye Dennis!" Jane said happily. Turning to Teresa he looked so much better than he did even just this morning. His colour was better despite the black and blue bruises and his enthusiasm was on the rebound.

"After the snack do you want to go for a short walk?" Teresa suggested. "See how wobbly you are now?"

Popping a chewy chocolate chip confection into his mouth, Jane nodded 'yes' to her suggestion. He hadn't dared another walk alone while she had been gone and he was actually in desperate need of the bathroom. As he took a quick sip of juice he pulled the covers back and slid his legs over the side of the bed. So far, so good. That sleep must have done him the world of good because the spins hadn't hit him yet as he sat straight up. Lisbon came around the side of the bed to offer assistance if needed. Jane gripped the side of the bed table and stood up and got his balance. Still no dizziness.

"You OK?" Teresa checked.

"I think so. Get ready to catch me if I go down."

Jane walked away from his bed, his leg hurting more now than it did yesterday as the freezing was completely out of the damaged tissue and the stitches pulled painfully. A slight limp betrayed his discomfort but he managed to walk slowly to the bathroom under his own steam. As he reached the door he turned back to flash a brilliant smile at her.

"Et Voila!" he said as he stepped into the small bathroom and shut the door in triumph.

Lisbon smiled at his happiness and popped another cookie into her mouth. Maybe his hopes of going home tomorrow weren't so far fetched after all.

Calvin left Adrianna and went directly over to Hoekstra Importing to have a quick meeting with the shocked staff working in the warehouse. A round of handshakes and back slaps assured Cal that his people were thrilled to know he and Adrianna were safe and sound, and that their jobs were still in existence. After leaving some instructions for the warehouse manager, Cal dropped by the factory outlet shop and filled up two large bags with fresh Dutch candy. Whistling softly to himself he got back into his newly rented car and drove back to the hospital. He needed to be close to his sister now and looked forward to seeing Jane later today. He had a lot of responsibility resting on his slim shoulders and would make sure he lived up to his role as the temporary CEO of Hoekstra Importing. Once Adrianna was well again they could discuss his role in the business. Whatever it was, he would be happy to work hard to make her proud of him.

Abbott found Adrianna's room and knocked on her door, hoping he wasn't waking her up. A light voice called him inside and he pushed open the door. Cal had arrived just before he did and greeted Abbott warmly, offering the big man his chair.

"No no, sit, sit Calvin. I just wanted to see how your sister is doing. Adrianna, it's so good to see you looking so well after what you've been through."

"Thank you Agent Abbott. I feel very grateful to everyone who helped save me."

"Well, I understand you were instrumental in saving yourself. You never gave up calling for help."

"I thought it was too late, I was sure nobody was out there, then I heard that boy break a bottle and I just had to try calling one last time. Thank goodness those kids were there."

"I'm sure they're pretty impressed with themselves too" Abbott smiled.

Reaching into his jacket pocket, Abbott pulled out a wrinkled envelope and suddenly became much more serious.

"Calvin, I'm happy you're here. I wanted to give this to both of you at the same time. Our investigators found it under Miriam's mattress when they searched her room. I apologize, but I read this to see if it contained anything we could use as evidence. It didn't, but you need to read this, together."

Abbott handed the envelope over to Cal and walked towards the door. From Abbott's demeanor, Cal and Adri knew whatever was in that envelope was important.

"I'll give you some privacy." Dennis opened the door and left the two young people staring at the mysterious envelope in confusion.

Cal came around the bed and sat gently next to his sister.

"It's Oma's handwriting" said Adri softly as she fingered the envelope.

"Go ahead, open it" said Cal quietly, suddenly filled with emotion. Nodding her agreement, Adrianna gently slid her fingers inside and pulled out a folded letter. Her fingers shook as she unfolded the single page and read aloud.

 ** _Dear Adrianna and Calvin:_**

 ** _Your Opa and I are going to leave for the airport soon. We were as upset as you were when we left your room at the hotel this morning. I am sorry that you want to go home on your own instead of driving with us, but as I keep reminding your Opa, you are not kids anymore and you can do "your own thing". We sometimes forget that our children and grandchildren do grow up and want to go their own ways. That is a lesson all parents and grandparents must learn. Opa was very angry with you and the way you spoke to us, as was I. But now that we have had time to talk about it, we know that it was the late night, alcohol and maybe some weed still in your system that made you say the things you said to us._**

Adrianna put down the letter and grabbed a tissue to wipe her eyes and her nose. Why hadn't this letter ever been given to her and Calvin? Why would Miriam withhold it? She picked up the letter and continued to read to Cal.

 ** _Yes kids, I know you probably smoked some weed. I am not so naive to think you didn't do that while you were in Amsterdam. But that is not what I want to dwell on. I expect you found this letter in your mail slot at work when you came back to Austin. I wanted to give you a chance to read this before we talked about what happened in the hotel room._**

 ** _No matter what you may think, your Opa and I love you and forgive you. We know you are both great people who made a mistake. None of us are perfect and at one time or another we let our parents or other family members down. So, when you are ready, please come over and visit Opa and I for some coffee and honey cake. Let's talk and make up. We love you and have already forgiven you. I hope you had a safe flight home and can leave the harsh words behind in Amsterdam._**

 ** _With a bit of persuading I might even tell you some stories about what your Opa and I used to do to drive our own grandparents crazy when we were young._**

 ** _We love you Cal and Adrianna. See you soon. The coffee is hot and waiting for you._**

 ** _Your Oma and Opa._**

Adrianna dropped the paper and cried deep, wracking sobs, while Cal sat stone faced and shocked at the discovery of this precious letter.

"That bitch Miriam! She took the letter out of Oma's purse when it was returned to her after the car accident. She kept this from us to make us miserable. That bitch!" Cal shouted.

"She couldn't even give us that tiny bit of comfort when we found out Oma and Opa died" he added.

"All this time we thought we had killed them because they were upset with us and had an accident. All this time Miriam let us think we were to blame" said Adrianna as the whole truth revealed itself.

Cal turned to Adrianna and held her as she cried.

"They forgave us 'Dri. They didn't hate us after all" he said in wonder. "Oma and Opa forgave us."

Adri nodded, unable to speak. This letter changed everything for her. She could finally forgive herself for something she and Cal had done. She didn't think she could hate her Aunt more than she already did, but discovered that she hated Miriam with an even hotter flame of repulsion. To know that her grandparents left for the airport ready and eager to meet them in Austin to iron out any ill feelings meant the world to her and to Calvin. A great calmness came over her.

Lifting her head she smiled at her brother.

"It's finally OK Calvin. They didn't hate us. We didn't cause their accident, not even a tiny bit. It was all Miriam. I feel….I feel…"

She was at a loss for words.

"Forgiven" said Calvin simply.

"Yes, forgiven, and loved. Thank you Oma" said Adria softly, running her fingertips over her Oma's lovely handwriting. A cough in the hallway alerted them to Agent Abbott's presence on the other side of the door.

Cal strode over and opened the door to let the man back inside.

"Everything OK in here?" he asked gently, seeing Adri dabbing her eyes.

"Yes, more than OK" said Cal, pulling up a chair for Abbott.

"It's wonderful that your agent found this. It makes all the difference in the world to know Oma and Opa forgave us for our fight. But our Aunt hid this from us, for two and and half years!" said Adrianna, pointing at the letter.

"She tried to get away with so many terrible things, and ultimately she failed in getting what she wanted. I'm very happy this letter was found and made it into your hands" said Abbott simply.

"What will happen to Tante Miriam now?" asked Cal.

"Well, your Aunt will be interrogated then sent to prison to await her day in court. There will be a long list of charges against her, and with your eyewitness testimony, and Mr. Jane's, your Aunt will spend the rest of her life in prison. The whole process will take a while, but no matter what happens, she will never be a danger to anyone else again" Dennis explained.

"Texas has the death penalty" Cal mentioned cautiously. "Will she get that?"

"I can't say. I'm not an attorney and that is up to the judicial system to decide. Let's not worry about that right now. Just be happy that she can't hurt you anymore" said Dennis.

"You need to focus on getting on with your lives. Get well, go home and rest, and enjoy yourselves. Make a new start and live the life your parents would have wanted for you" said Abbott, seeing the sadness in Cal and Adri's eyes.

"Now Jane tells me that you two sell some of the best candy in Austin. You wouldn't happen to have samples with you?" Dennis teased them, trying to break the heavy mood in the small room.

"As a matter of fact I do have a bagful of Drop. Be careful, some is very salty!" Cal warned Abbott. Dennis plucked a small handful of candy out of the bag and ate each piece with relish, deciding that this was mighty good stuff.

"Oh boy, there goes the diet!" he said as he dared to take another sampling out of the open bag. Adrianna laughed and took a long piece of licorice for herself.

"Once you get hooked on this stuff there's no going back!" she warned Abbott.

"So I've heard from Jane and Lisbon. Oh by the way, Mr. Jane wanted me to tell you Adrianna that he hopes to come and visit you today if he is feeling well enough to leave his room. He's got a bad concussion which makes him fairly dizzy. But he wishes you well and hopes you recover quickly from your injuries."

Adrianna smiled at the kind wishes sent from Mr. Jane. 'I look forward to seeing him. I hope he does manage to come and visit."

Abbott tossed another droppie into his mouth then stood up. "If I don't go now I'll eat all of your candy, and my wife will not be happy about that!" he laughed, reaching out to shake Cal's hand. Turning to Adri, he touched her shoulder and smiled.

"You get better soon, then come and visit us at the FBI. We'd love to see you once you're up and about."

"Thank you, I will. We will" she amended.

"Bye now" Dennis smiled and walked to the door. "See you soon."

"Bye!" Cal and Adri called out unison.

"Can you believe we have friends at the FBI?" said Adrianna in wonder.

"Well they are real people 'Dri. They do have friends just like us!"

"OK, OK smarty pants!" she laughed. Turning serious again, she held up the letter and handed it to Calvin.

"I never want to lose this letter from Oma. Can you take to the office and lock it in the safe?"

"Sure thing. Then we can read it whenever we want" Cal agreed, standing up to go. A nurse came in and smiled at Cal as he made his way over to the door.

"Be good Adrianna. I'll be back later."

"Bye Cal" she waved as he left, then submitted to the ministrations of the nurse. She felt stiff and sore as the bruising from the fall down the well was starting to come out, but it was a small price to pay for making it out alive.

Adri felt like a huge burden had been lifted off her heart when she read that letter from her Oma. The sadness that was never far away from her mind was finally gone. A lightness and hopefulness now filled that void and as she rolled over for a nap, she smiled and pictured her grandparents in her mind. They were smiling and waving at her, as were her parents. A sign that they were all together, watching over she and Cal? She hoped so as she hit her pain pump and let the morphine carry her away to a peaceful sleep.


	27. On The Mend

It's pouring with rain, so I can't go outside. Might as well publish another chapter. Thanks for all the kind comments and funny observations!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 27

On The Mend

(FBI Cell Block)

Miriam had spent the morning hours in her cell pacing and plotting and living in a fantastic alternate universe. She couldn't believe her freedom had been taken away from her on a permanent basis, but coped with her incarceration by thinking that her lawyer would soon get her out of there on bail. She had no idea who to call to represent her so she agreed to a court appointed lawyer until she could get out and find a better one herself. Yes, that's what she'd do. She'd play along with this sham lawyer and then find a great lawyer who could convince the court and the jury that she was disturbed, not evil, and needed care, not incarceration. Then she could talk her way out of whatever facility the court sent her to for a short while. A country-club mental facility! Like the celebrities went to! Her magical thinking was keeping her from losing it completely, and when her lunch arrived, she barely tasted it. Miriam was sure she would soon be back in her own home awaiting her trial, then she could make herself something delicious to eat. She could wait for good food, not this slop the FBI tried to foist on her. She had money, lots of it to use for a great defense attorney. First she inherited some from her parents when they died, then she had all the money she had saved while working for Hoekstra Importing. She also had the money she had skimmed off the profits of the company as she had been doing the accounting for Adrianna and Cal. Such stupid kids not to notice their profits were less than they should have been.

Miriam was sure that whatever a good lawyer would charge her, she could manage to pay him what he was worth. Her manic pacing kept her busy and her mind engaged, so she was caught off guard when a thin man in a black suit approached her cell, briefcase in hand.

"Miss Hoekstra?"

"Yes? Who are you?"

The man held out a business card and walked closer to the bars of the cell.

"I'm Robert Stone, your court appointed lawyer. I thought I should introduce myself before we go and stand before the judge some time in the coming weeks."

Miriam studied the elegant card, then the man himself. He was well dressed in a beautifully tailored suit, he was well groomed and seemed intelligent. He'd do.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Stone. But just to be clear, once I'm out on bail, I'll be replacing you with my own defense attorney."

The man smiled and didn't look offended. "If you wish." Then he began to explain why he was there.

"Ms. Hoekstra, I think you need to understand what will be happening to you in the next few weeks."

Miriam sat on her bunk and crossed her legs as if she was on her sofa at home entertaining a guest.

"Please, explain."

"I'm just here as a courtesy. The FBI will interrogate you thoroughly and once they have determined exactly what their charges will be against you, you will be sent to a prison to await a court date. At that time you will stand before a judge where he will read out your charges. The prosecution will argue for you to remain incarcerated until your trial, whenever that may be."

"And you, or my other lawyer, will argue on my behalf to set me free on bail, correct?"

The lawyer shifted his weight from foot to foot as he contemplated his answer. The woman clearly didn't grasp the severity of the charges that would be levelled against her.

"Well, no. I can ask the court to assure you a speedy court date. But there is no way that you will be granted bail, not for any amount of money I'm afraid."

"But my lawyer has to do that for me, that's what I'm paying you fools for!" shouted Miriam, standing up and striding over to the bars of her cell. "You have to get me out of jail!"

"Ms. Hoekstra, you don't seem to understand the situation. You have been accused of murdering four people, and the kidnapping and attempted murder of three more people, along with various other felonies. The court is not going to allow you to walk free until your court date. You pose too great a flight risk."

Miriam grabbed the bars and bared her teeth at the man. "Then what the hell am I bothering with you for?" she yelled.

"Ma'am...it isn't about setting you free anymore."

"Then what is all this about Mr. Stone? Because right now you seem pretty useless to me!" she barked.

Robert Stone was calm and ready for this. He had seen his fair share of murderous prisoners who deluded themselves into thinking they would get out of prison no matter what they'd done. He dropped the bombshell that would send Miriam into a tailspin.

"Ms. Hoekstra, it isn't about representing you and getting you off on these charges. I will count myself lucky, any lawyer would count himself lucky, to have your conviction lead to life in prison. I am here to save you from the death penalty."

Miriam stared at the man in disbelief. What was he saying? That he would represent her, not to make the court think she was innocent, but to ensure she spent her life in prison?

"Get out!"

"Ms. Hoekstra, we need to talk…"

"GET. OUT!" she screamed until a guard approached and told her to be silent or else she would be shackled to her bed.

The lawyer smiled at the guard and left the woman seething in rage in her tiny cell. He had experienced this before so he knew she would explode. Some things never changed.

After Mr. Stone was gone, Miriam stopped her screaming and sank onto her bunk in a black funk. All her magical thinking had evaporated when doused with the cold hard facts. She wasn't going to be set free on bail at any price. A prison cell awaited her for the short term, and if she was lucky, another prison cell would be her permanent home until she died. It was more than she could fathom. It just wasn't possible, not after all she had done and achieved over the last two and a half years! She pulled her knees up to her chin and rocked back and forth, her mind reeling with this new version of reality. It rendered her mute with shock.

(Austin General Hospital)

Teresa had found a robe of sorts for Jane to put on over his navy pajamas so that he didn't feel quite so exposed when they set off to walk around the corridors outside of his room. It was just a hospital gown put on backwards, but it afforded the man more modesty than just cotton pajamas. Patrick and Teresa walked arm in arm, slow and steady, happy to be out of that small green room at last. When they had made it to the nurse's station, Teresa wondered how Patrick was doing.

"Are you dizzy yet?"

"Nope."

"Don't just say it if it isn't true Patrick" she warned him gently.

"Oh believe me, if I was dizzy I wouldn't have made it this far. I'm fine, really. Shall we go all the way around?" Patrick suggested, pleased as punch that his head had finally cleared.

"If you need to stop or sit down, tell me OK?" Teresa told him, feeling the need to be his personal nurse.

"I do believe I bring out the mother in you my dear" said Patrick with a grin as he smiled at a passing nurse. She blushed at the attention the handsome patient had paid to her.

Teresa was about to bark back with a denial, but didn't, when she realized that he was right. She did feel maternal. She had taken care of three boys, what was one more oversized boy now?

"OK, so what if I just want to make sure you're alright?"

Patrick stopped suddenly and gazed into Teresa's eyes. "Then I would say thank you like this." He leaned down to within inches of Teresa's face.

"Much appreciated." And with that, he kissed her right in the middle of the busy hallway, oblivious to the grins of the passing staff.

"Wow, Miriam must have really knocked your head hard" giggled Teresa, surprised at his public display of affection.

"She did, but there is no way she gets any credit for the way I feel about you Teresa. Those feelings are all mine."

Teresa blushed to her toes and kept walking arm in arm with the man she loved so much it almost hurt. After a few minutes of walking in contented silence, Teresa ventured a question.

"How's the leg? Still tight?"

"Yep. The stitches are pulling but once they're out it should be fine. When do you think I can get rid of this?" Jane asked, indicating the white bandages swathing his head, his ragged curls sticking out everywhere.

"What? You don't like that? I think it makes you look dashing" she teased.

"Dashing huh? Well then maybe I'll keep wearing it long after the hole in my head has healed."

"Go for it…" Teresa said, knowing full well Patrick wanted it gone as soon as possible. They walked around the whole floor twice before Jane's energy began to flag. By the time they were back in his room he was happy to stretch out on his bed.

"You did really well. I'm surprised you lasted that long considering this morning you were so tipsy" Teresa said as she tucked the bedding around Patrick's body.

"It was the dizziness that was slowing me down. Now that it's gone, I feel much better. My stomach is fine, so the allergic reaction must be out of my system."

"Want to try a real supper tonight then?" asked Teresa. "I can run out and pick up something good. Feel like anything in particular?"

Together Patrick and Teresa planned a delicious meal that could be brought into the hospital with a minimum of fuss. With luck, this time tomorrow they would be eating at Teresa's house. Teresa left Jane to rest while she ran out to a restaurant to pick up some takeout. Jane lay back and closed his eyes, finally able to rest without fearing nausea or the spins. By all accounts the worst was finally over.

Calvin was on his way to his friend's house when Cho called on his cell phone.

"Hey Calvin, it's Agent Cho."

"Hi Agent Cho. What can I do for you?"

"We've finished pulling evidence out of the house and were wondering if you wanted to go inside to pick up some personal items. We also need to get those snakes out of the house before we lock it up. Can you come down and move them out today, tomorrow at the latest?"

Cal had to think fast. He had at least 11 snakes in his room, all of them harmless save that one venomous snake. He needed help.

"Let me call my buddy John to help me move them all out. I think the easiest thing to do is to just set them free outside of the city. We can manage to get them all out in one trip in one of our vans" Cal suggested. "Can I call you back to confirm our plans?"

"That would be fine, thanks. I'll be in the city today so just call me and I can have some of my men meet you at the house when you need to get in and get your possessions" said Cho, glad one more item was off his list of things to do.

Calvin made arrangements to meet his friend at 6pm to move the snakes out of the house. Crime scene tape encircled the property, lending it a macabre air when they stepped through the front door. The two of them followed an agent into the hallway and entered the eerily still house that still had Jane's blood staining the rug and kitchen floor. The agent directed them to get the snakes out as quickly as possible without touching anything else. Within 30 minutes the men had bagged and removed all of their wriggling creatures to the safety of a large holding box in the back of the van owned by Cal's best friend. Cal re-entered the house to collect clothing and personal care items, even a few things he was sure Adrianna would want, then was ushered back outside as the agent firmly locked the front door again.

"When can my sister and I come back to the house and get it in order? We plan on selling it as soon as possible" Cal asked the agent.

"You'll have to check with Agent Abbott or Agent Cho. They will decide when the house is no longer necessary to the investigation."

Cal hoped the forensic team was soon going to be done crawling through the house. He would never sleep there again, but he and Adri would need the rest of their stuff once the hospital discharged her. They needed to get everything professionally cleaned, as he had no idea how to remove bloodstains. The very thought of it gave him the creeps. As soon as it was emptied the house would be ready for the real estate agents to put it on the market. He already planned to donate Miriam's possessions to a charitable organization. They didn't need to know the donations were once owned by a murderer.

The ride out into the country was cathartic for Calvin. His best friend John didn't press him for information about the kidnapping and the scene on the bridge, and for that, Cal was thankful. It would all soon become fodder for the gossip mills, but until then, Calvin was happy to just fall back into familiar routines until he had to testify against his Aunt. The city soon disappeared in the rear view mirror and Cal and his friend found a safe spot for the snakes to be released outside of town. In no time at all they had slipped away into the brush, leaving undulating waves in the sand as their bodies parted the dirt into ribbon-like lines. Cal watched them go, happy they had returned to their preferred habitat. A vivarium was no place to live forever. Just like a prison cell was no way to live either he thought gloomily.

"Come on, beers on me!" said John, seeing Cal's melancholy. Cal smiled and slapped his friend across the back.

"You may regret that offer buddy!"

Then the men turned back to the dust covered van and headed into Austin for tacos and cold beer. Life was meant to be lived, fully and thankfully. They found a lively patio and sat amongst a crowd of young people relaxing after a busy day. As they raised their glasses of beer in a salute to each other, the FBI and Adrianna, Cal and his friend sat back and smiled in contentment. Life would be good again.

(Austin General Hospital)

Teresa brought an assortment of food for she and Patrick to enjoy from Chuys, one of their favourite Tex-Mex restaurants. A few tacos, some enchiladas, nachos and queso, tortilla soup, cold lemonade, all lay spread out on Patrick's bed table. When Patrick saw the buffet he sat up with enthusiasm, grabbing a tall plastic beaker full of lemonade in a toast to his lovely lady.

"To the best hunter/gatherer a man could hope for...thank you Teresa!" he smiled as he downed a refreshing mouthful of the tart drink.

"I do my best" smiled Teresa, dunking a huge freshly baked nacho chip into the warm queso.

"Mmmmm...this is so good" she mumbled as she mowed down on the delicious repast. "Take it easy OK Patrick? I don't want any complaints about tummy aches."

"If this food makes me sick it will all be worth it" he admitted, biting into a hot fish taco. They ate in companionable silence until they began to fill up and slow down. Almost nothing was left by the time they both sat back groaning with satisfaction.

"I can't eat another thing" Teresa moaned, sitting with her hands across her midsection.

"This may fill me up until noon tomorrow" Patrick had to admit. He got up to tidy up the mess of papers and napkins, empty containers and spoons.

"Here let me do that for you" Teresa said to him, wanting Jane to stay in bed.

'I'm fine, really. How can we know how I'm feeling if I never get up and push myself? Let me help you" Patrick smiled, reaching for another dirty container.

"OK, have it your way…" Teresa groused.

"Don't I usually?" smiled Patrick.

Teresa lobbed a balled up napkin at his head as he swatted it away. Both of them were grinning in happiness. Jane was clearly feeling much better, their stomachs were full to bursting with great food, and soon they planned on visiting with Adrianna. The day had turned out very well.

After cleaning up and then brushing his teeth, Patrick emerged from his small bathroom freshly washed and ready to leave for the trip to Adrianna's room.

"Can you get there under your own steam or should I find a wheelchair for the trip upstairs?" Teresa asked him.

"I'll walk. If I get too tired we can shanghai a wheelchair for the return trip. Ready to go?"

"Ready when you are!"

Jane put his housecoat back on over his pajamas, being a very modest man, and offered his arm to Teresa. They walked out of his room and took the elevator up to the surgical floor where Adrianna was recuperating. Soon she would be moved to a regular nursing floor, and when she was able to have a solid cast put on her leg, she would be released to recuperate at home.

Adrianna was bored. Cal had been gone for a few hours and she had read everything in her room that she could get her hands on. The pain in her leg had lessened and now she was getting restless. A knock on her door raised her hopes that a friend had come to visit.

"Come in!"

Teresa pushed open the door and let Jane enter first.

"Agent Jane!" Adri exclaimed when she saw him, then she saw his bruised and battered face.

"Hi Adrianna. Are you up for a visit?" he asked, limping over to a chair by her bed.

"Of course! I've been looking forward to seeing you again. How are you feeling? Your face is so bruised!"

Jane waved off her concern and called Teresa forward to introduce her.

"It's just the bruising from where Miriam hit me with her gun. Looks worse than it feels. This is Agent Teresa Lisbon. She helped carry out the plan on the bridge."

"Agent Lisbon, a pleasure to meet you. Between you and Agent Jane, you saved my brother's life!" Adri said in awe.

"Please, not Agent, really. I'm a consultant, just call me Mr. Jane."

Teresa shook Adri's hand and smiled at the lovely young woman. "It was all Jane's idea, I just convinced the other officers to go along with it. I'm glad all of you got out alive. How's the leg?"

Adri shifted in the bed and gazed at her heavily wrapped and immobile appendage.

"It's OK, still hurts some, but that's to be expected I guess. I can't wait to get a cast on and get out of here. I'm not sure where Cal and I will go, but there's no way I'm going back to the house."

"Maybe a friend can put you up? Or you can stay at a guest house?" Teresa suggested.

"It won't be a problem, it'll all work out" Adri shrugged. Turning to study Jane, she still worried about him.

"I heard you got shot in the head Mr. Jane. I can't believe you're up and around already!"

Jane touched his white bandage and smiled at the young woman.

"I got lucky. Plus I have a very thick skull, ask Agent Lisbon" he smirked, winking at Teresa. "I've got an impressive row of stitches in my head and a black eye, but all things considered, I can't complain. I hope to go home tomorrow."

"I'm happy to hear it. I wish I could get out of here too. Oh hey...did you hear what Agent Abbott brought to Cal and I from Miriam's bedroom?"

Teresa and Patrick shook their heads in curiosity. Must be something good.

"When the agents were searching the house for evidence they found a letter addressed to Cal and I under Miriam's mattress. It was a letter from my Oma and Opa to us, telling us they forgave us for yelling at them that morning in Amsterdam. Miriam took the letter and hid it from us all this time, knowing how much it would mean to us. But your agents found it and returned it us. It changes everything Mr. Jane. We don't feel guilty anymore."

Jane leaned forward and put his hand over Adrianna's. "Good. Forgiveness is a powerful thing. It can take years for us to allow it to heal us….believe me, I know what I'm talking about" he said, turning his gaze towards Lisbon. "I'm glad you don't have to wait for it any longer."

"That letter means the world to us. Oma wrote it on the way to the airport. It must have been in her purse when they crashed their car. Then Tante Miriam stole the letter and kept it for herself. I don't understand that kind of hate. How could she hate all of us that much?" Adrianna asked Teresa and Patrick.

"That's a question for a team of psychiatrists. For now, forget Miriam. Don't let her affect another minute of your life. Evil people need to be forgotten" Jane said simply. Teresa looked at him and knew he was thinking of Red John.

"I'll try to follow that advice, thank you Mr. Jane."


	28. Cho's Got a Secret

Thank you Mayzee for your frequent reviews now that you had a chance to catch up. I am very much enjoying your story "Broken". Hurrah for all of the Mentalist authors!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 28

Cho's Got a Secret

Adrianna was enjoying her visit with Agent Lisbon and Mr. Jane. Although he looked rough with his bandage wrapped head, dark bruises and sore, stitched up calf, Mr. Jane seemed in high spirits. She couldn't help but feel that she could be as upbeat as he was. Then she remembered what she had set aside for him. She looked at her night stand and smiled.

"If you look in that cupboard, I think you'll find something with your name on it" she indicated, pointing to the small door on the bottom of the metal cabinet. Jane stood up with a devilish grin on his face and bent down to reach inside the small space. As he straightened up, he waved a large bag of droppies in the air.

"We've hit the motherlode!" he sang out, taking the twist tie off the bag and dipping his hand into the soft mass of licorice.

"How can you eat droppie now after that huge supper?" Lisbon said as she stood up to grab a handful of candy for herself.

"Um hello...is this the pot calling the kettle black?" said Jane, offering the bag of sweets to Adrianna. She took a piece of drop and popped it into her mouth.

"I have a bag of my own, but I'll never refuse a piece that's offered to me" she smiled. "I want you to know that you can come to the factory outlet store at Hoekstra Importing any time you want and help yourself to drop, free of charge."

"Oh we couldn't do that!" said Teresa, afraid it broke all kinds of rules regarding bribes, or some other such nonsense.

"Don't be silly. We'd be very happy to take you up on your offer" said Jane, taking a long string of black licorice out of the bag. "But if I get fat, I know who to blame."

Adrianna pressed the point. "This is our choice. Cal and I want you to enjoy the candy. It's a gift from us to you and Agent Lisbon. It's not a bribe, it's nothing but a thank you. So please, do come by and visit us and pick up some candy whenever you like."

"See Teresa, it's a gift. We don't want to be rude do we?" smiled Jane. He thought better of taking another sample of the candy. His stomach was very full.

Jane closed the bag and put it beside his chair, out of sight. Then he sat back to enjoy his visit. They passed the next ten minutes talking about everything except Miriam and her assorted crimes. Adrianna needed to get away from those thoughts for a while and Jane was done with the woman. Time to move on.

As Jane was beginning to tire, a knock on the door signalled the arrival of Adrianna's girlfriends, so Lisbon and Jane excused themselves and left the ladies to giggle and commiserate and generally be in awe of Adrianna's horrendous experience.

Jane held Teresa's hand as they made their way slowly to the elevators. Five minutes later they were back in Patrick's room. His limp had become a bit more noticeable but overall he was just tired, not ill any longer. As he got himself settled in the bed a nurse popped her head in the doorway.

"There you are!" she admonished him.

"Here I am!" rejoined Patrick, wondering what this was about.

The nurse stepped inside the room and checked Jane's temperature, pulse rate and heart.

"Is something wrong?" Teresa asked innocently.

The nurse fluffed up Jane's pillow and generally fussed around his bed in a stern manner.

"Next time you decide to go wandering around the hospital, let the nurses on this floor know where you went. We came in to do a check on your vitals before visiting hours began and you were gone. When you didn't come back to your room right away we worried you were ill and lost somewhere in this big building" she scolded him.

Jane found the lecture amusing but Lisbon was suitably chastised.

"We're really sorry. Patrick was feeling better so we went for a walk, then we went up to another floor to visit a patient up there. We didn't mean to worry the staff!"

Patrick wasn't concerned. How far could he go in pajamas and a backwards gown? He held up his wrist and waggled the plastic identity bracelet in the air.

"Doesn't this thing come with a GPS?"

The nurse scowled at him in agitation and huffed on her way out of the room.

"Way to make new friends Patrick."

"Aw she's just cranky and wants to go home. How was I to know it wasn't officially visiting hours yet when we left?" he said innocently.

"I would think the announcement we heard telling us that "visiting hours have now begun" would be a pretty good indication that it was time for visiting, and by then we were already in Adrianna's room."

"Visiting. During visiting hours. And the problem is?" Jane said with a straight face, totally unfazed by the whole fiasco.

"I think it's time you left this place" Teresa said with a smile as she gazed out the window at the city below.

"I couldn't agree with you more my dear" said Jane as he slid down into the soft bed and sighed in happiness. Barring any unforeseen events, he had every intention of going home tomorrow. But first, he'd stop by the bullpen and watch Cho do his thing in the interrogation room. Speaking of Cho...where was he?

"Teresa, have you spoken to Cho today?"

"He sent me a text at noon, but he was busy with the investigation and shutting down the Hoekstra house, so he's been tied up for the day. He said he'd try to pop in tonight to see how you're doing."

Jane nodded his head, happy to know he'd see Cho before he got discharged.

Cho was tying up loose ends at the office when he glanced at his watch and realized if he didn't leave right now, he'd miss his chance to see Jane today. The last time he'd seen him, Jane was in pain, in shock and in no shape to make pleasant conversation. Lisbon had said Jane was doing much better and was determined to be at the interrogation tomorrow. Cho grinned to himself as he walked to his car, just imagining the fuss Jane would make if the doctor dared to suggest he remain in the hospital for one more day. As long as he could walk and talk without keeling over, Jane would be hard to convince to stay in bed one minute longer than necessary. How many times had Cho seen this same scenario play out? Even blindness couldn't keep Jane away from work years ago when they all worked at the CBI. Cho eased out into traffic and figured he'd have time for a quick visit before the staff kicked all of the guests out of the hospital for the night. Picking up a coffee on the way, Cho got to the hospital 20 minutes later and rode the elevator up to Jane's floor. Stepping out of the lift, the first person he saw was Lisbon making her way back to Jane's room with a coffee for herself and a tea for Jane.

"Cho! Good to see you!"

"Sorry it took me so long to get here...lots to do to wrap up the search of the Hoekstra house" he apologized.

"It's fine. Jane knows you planned to come tonight so he's content to wait for you. Come on, this way" Teresa indicated. Walking beside the handsome Asian man, she glanced at his relaxed face and once again felt a pang of affection for one of the best law enforcement agents she had ever had the privilege to work with. By now Cho was more than a colleague at work, he was a dear friend. As she pushed open the door, Jane looked up from his puzzle book and broke into a broad smile when he saw Kimball follow Teresa into the room.

"Cho! Thanks for coming!"

"Nice to see you up and around. You look like hell" Cho added deadpan. "Are you sure a little old lady did that to you?" he smirked, indicating the bruise rolling across Jane's cheek and eye.

"She had a big gun. I was tied up. Enough said" replied Jane, taking his tea with a smile from Lisbon.

"So how is the head?" Cho said with real concern.

"It's OK. The spins have stopped, but I'm supposed to rest for the next two or three weeks because of the concussion. As if…" Jane added.

"Oh you will. There's no way you're going back to work one day sooner than the doctor says you can!" said Teresa. "Cho, you're Jane's supervisor now, make sure the FBI doctor signs off on him coming back to work or else he'll talk his way back into the bullpen!" Teresa said with frustration. Damn that man couldn't follow orders!

Cho sat down and laughed. How often had they done this dance? He would make sure Jane stayed away, even if he and Abbott had to officially bar him from the building.

"You heard Lisbon, you can't work until your doctor and our doctor say so. Consider it a forced vacation" Cho answered Jane. "How are the knife wounds now? Can you walk?" he asked, seeing the large wrapping around Jane's leg and upper arm through the cotton pajamas.

"S'fine...stitches will come out next week. Hurts a bit but nothing to complain about."

"Have you spoken to Miriam yet?" Lisbon asked her friend.

Cho shook his head. "No, she's cooling her heels in the cell, getting used to her new home away from home. A court appointed lawyer came to see her and explained a few things to her today, but it didn't go well" Cho said. "She was sure he was there to tell her how he was going to get the charges against her dropped."

"Dropped? Is she that deluded that she still believes she's invincible?" said Jane.

Cho smirked as he sipped his coffee. "Either deluded or playing a good game to try and fool us."

"Not happening" said Lisbon, pulling up a chair near Patrick's bed. "She's left too many witnesses alive who'll contradict whatever story she was planning to sell to the jury."

"Oh but don't forget she never planned on being caught. She was pretty smug about her ability to outsmart the cops. It worked for two and a half years so she thought she was home free" added Jane. "When I confronted her with the evidence I'd found she didn't deny anything. She told Cal, Adri and I exactly how she killed her parents and their parents. She figured we'd all be dead soon so why not boast?"

"Deluded and ego-driven. What a sweet woman!" scoffed Teresa.

"How are you going to deal with her tomorrow?" Jane asked.

"Depends. If she keeps stonewalling and pretending Cal's the killer, I'll have to make sure she knows we aren't fooled. I figure her ego will emerge sooner or later and she'll get boastful if I make her think we consider her a failure" Cho explained, to Jane's approval.

"Good...I can guarantee you that Miriam won't be able to keep her pride hidden for too long" he smiled. He understood the woman very well.

Turning to Lisbon, Cho asked a question that she would be hard pressed to answer.

"So how do you to plan to keep Jane away from work until the doc clears him? Hire a babysitter?"

"Hey!"

Cho laughed at Jane's reaction. "Sorry buddy but your reputation goes before you."

Lisbon reached over and held Patrick's hand. "I have no idea how to keep him home, but we'll figure something out."

"Stay home with me and I'll make the time pass quickly" he purred, eyeing her with desire.

Cho feigned disgust. "Ugh...too much information."

Jane laughed at his friend's reaction.

"Speaking of which, how's that girlfriend of yours that you think you've kept a secret from me?"

Cho's head snapped up. How did Jane know he'd found someone special? Had he given himself away by something he said? He was momentarily speechless.

"Ohhh so there is someone special….come on...we need details!" Jane teased the normally tight lipped man. Cho's reaction had given his secret away.

"Damn it Jane!"

"Never mind him Cho. We'd all figure it out sooner or later. Who is she? What does she do? When did you meet her?" Lisbon asked in a rapid fire line of inquiry.

Cho ignored Jane's smug expression of joy at having outted Cho's new relationship and decided to answer Lisbon. Sooner or later Jane would know all the answers anyway.

"She's a detective with the Austin Police Department. We met at a conference in Houston a few months back and kept up our friendship when we got back to Austin. Smart, intelligent, beautiful woman. Happy now?" Cho said, keeping his answers short and to the point.

"Does this woman have a name?" asked Jane, keenly interested in meeting the woman who had captivated Cho enough that he had kept her a secret for so long.

"Olivia...Livvie...Olivia Kim."

"Livvie. Can't wait for an introduction" smiled Jane, offering Cho and Teresa some candy.

"It might happen" Cho said dismissively to change the subject. "What's this?" he said, eyeing the black candy with suspicion.

Jane and Teresa grinned and explained what Drop was and encouraged the stoic Asian to try various types. With some trepidation Cho finally popped some into his mouth and another convert had been made.

"How did we live this long without knowing about this stuff?" Cho said as he reached in for another small handful.

"I know, a huge oversight that I intend to correct" Patrick said, leaving the bag out on the table for everyone to enjoy.

"My teeth are stuck together" mumbled Cho, trying to pry sticky licorice off his back teeth.

"Makes it last longer...an extra benefit" said Lisbon, who was also busy trying to get her candy off her teeth.

"Visiting hours are now over. Visiting hours are now over" came the announcement over the loudspeaker.

Cho took one more long string of licorice and gathered up his jacket.

"Looks like they're going to kick us out. Good to see you Patrick. Get well soon" Cho said as he reached over to shake Jane's hand.

"Thanks for coming Cho. I'll try to be there tomorrow to watch you take down Miriam."

"Looking forward to it" Cho smiled. "Teresa, see you tomorrow."

"Bye Cho" she said, standing up to give him a quick hug.

Cho left and headed home, finally, after a very long few days. He was ready to put this case behind him. Leave it to Jane to find trouble where no one was looking.

After Cho left, Teresa stayed with Jane a while longer then he encouraged her to go home and relax. Teresa felt guilty leaving Jane alone in the room for the night, but he insisted. She had been there almost around the clock since he came in and he could see that she needed a hot bath and a long sleep. Tomorrow would be here soon enough, and fingers crossed, she'd be there to drive him home.

Teresa finally gathered her things together and kissed Patrick goodnight. She was tired, and a small headache was brewing. If she could get in the tub and soak with a headache pill as soon as she got home it wouldn't get any worse.

"Bye Patrick. Be good. Sleep well and I'll come for breakfast in the morning."

"Sounds good. Get some sleep yourself and don't worry about me. I intend to do some reading now that I can see straight, then I'll turn in for the night early. I want to be wide awake for the interrogation tomorrow."

"Patrick, you might not be released...don't be so sure you'll be going home, OK?" Teresa reminded him. "If you are, it will be a nice surprise, but if you're not…"

"I know, I know…But I'm hopeful" he admitted. "Goodnight Teresa."

He watched her go and then sighed deeply. Now to keep himself busy for another hour or two, then he'd try to sleep, like he had promised Teresa.

The nursing shift changed and a new nurse came in to check up on him soon after Teresa left. She recorded his vitals and he watched her go through the motions with interest.

"Well?" Patrick asked her. "How am I?"

The young nurse laughed and straightened his bedding. "I think you're doing very well Mr. Jane. No fever, heart rate is normal, blood pressure normal. Eyes look good. How's the head? Any dizziness tonight?"

"None since this afternoon. I can walk and chew gum at the same time!" he answered happily. "When does this come off?" he asked, pointing to the large bandage wound around his head. It was getting annoying.

The nurse peeked underneath the dressing and seemed pleased with what she saw.

"The stitches are clean and look great. I expect the doctor will write an order for us to remove the wrapping and put a small bandage over the stitches tomorrow morning. Everything looks like it is healing well."

"Good. Thank you" Jane said, pleased to get more positive news. He was sure he was going to be out of this green prison soon.

"Call if you need anything" the nurse told Jane as she made her way to the door. Then he was alone with his thoughts. A puzzle book beckoned and he was soon immersed in the challenges it presented. When he began to yawn, he closed the book and shuffled off to the bathroom to get ready for bed, then slid back between the sheets and fell asleep in record time. Hopefully when he opened his eyes in the morning, he'd be doing it for the last time in this hospital.


	29. Cho vs Miriam

Getting close to the end now! Just a few more chapters maybe, then it's finished. Thanks for sticking with me! Miriam is going to go head to head with Cho and she has no idea what she'll be up against.

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 29

Cho vs Miriam

Lisbon crashed as soon as she got home. As much as she wanted a tall glass of red wine to sip while she soaked in the bathtub, she took two aspirin instead to combat her headache. It was just from tiredness and as soon as her head hit the pillow she knew she'd be out for the night. She filled the tub with scented oil and lit a few candles to encourage a relaxing mood, sorry that Jane wasn't there to share it with her. Ah well, he couldn't soak in the tub until his leg healed, so it didn't really matter she guessed. 40 minutes later she was towelling off and slipped into her pajamas and nearly fell into the bed. Within ten minutes she was snoring lightly, the sleep of someone who is no longer afraid she will lose the love of her life.

Miriam's night had been much rougher in the jail cell at FBI headquarters. She had endured the humiliation of having to wash herself all over, in the sink, then use the toilet, again, while an impassive guard sat nearby keeping an eye on her. The agency didn't want any of their prisoners killing themselves with bedding or clothing while awaiting their trials, so she was constantly scrutinised. Once Miriam had finally drifted off into a fitful sleep, she was shocked awake by screaming and cursing, the sound of a fight and someone being subdued. Miriam sat up and watched as another prisoner was half walked, half dragged to a cell beside hers. A young woman with a bloodied face, torn clothing and wild, bleached hair was cursing out her guards as they opened the cell door and tossed her inside. A stream of invective aimed at the men and their families followed the guards out of the hallway.

Miriam stood blinking in the low light staring at her new neighbor.

"What are you looking at bitch!" screamed the younger woman.

Miriam turned away, not wanting to be drawn into a conversation that she knew would lead to a long night of screaming and curses, this time aimed at her.

"Think you're better than me bitch? Do ya?" yelled the young woman. Miriam sighed deeply, knowing that no matter what she did, her neighbor would taunt her for the rest of the night. And that is exactly what happened. Hour after hour, every foul insult that could be used was used against Miriam, who resorted to putting her pillow over her head to block out the noise. The guard came over and yelled at the hysterical new prisoner every so often, but mostly concerned herself with making sure the prisoners were still alive by the end of her shift. By the time the guards changed at 7am, Miriam was exhausted, having stayed awake all night. The young woman who had remained hysterical and violent all night was now sleeping peacefully on her bunk. Miriam eyed her with hatred. Today was too important for her to be tired and frazzled. Today she had to convince the interrogating agent that she had done nothing wrong and was in fact, a victim herself.

(Austin General Hospital)

Jane woke up early, filled with anticipation. Normally the last person he wanted to see was a doctor, or anyone in a white lab coat for that matter, but today, he wanted to be visited by his doctor as early in the morning as possible. Waiting around for good or bad news was never easy, but today especially he wanted to be outside these four green walls and on his way to the FBI building to watch Miriam squirm while Cho did his best to unsettle her.

A nurse came in and proceeded to check his vitals again. By now he knew the routine and submitted without making a pain of himself. This was just another step closer to being sprung. Then the nurse did something that took Jane by surprise.

"Time for this to come off and see how things are looking" she smiled as she took a pair of scissors out of her pocket and snipped the end of the long winding piece of gauze on his head. Gradually she unwound the long cord of flimsy fabric and balled it up in her hand. When at last she reached the end, she carefully peeled away a bit of gauze that was stuck on some dried blood on Jane's scalp. Jane whispered a soft "ow!" as it came away from his matted hair.

"OK, let's see if the rest comes off so easily" the young woman muttered.

Jane sat perfectly still, anticipating a painful experience, but after some gentle pressure, the wadded up piece of bandage came away from his line of stitches with a minimum of pain. The nurse took a cotton ball and wet it with distilled water, then gently sponged the incision line clear of dried blood to see how the wound was healing.

"It looks very good, nice and clean" she pronounced, discarding all of the bloody dressings in the garbage.

Jane instinctively raised his hands to feel the stitches but the woman stopped him.

"Don't touch! You need to keep the stitches clean and undisturbed. If you like, you can have a shower this morning, just don't make it too long. Pat the stitches dry with a soft old towel and be gentle, OK?"

"OK" Jane smiled. "But what about my arm and leg?"

"They're next" she said. As Jane watched, she proceeded to unwrap the gauze wound around his calf, exposing a line of stitches across the back of his leg. Just having the bandage off felt much better, less constricting. Then she asked Jane to take off his pajama top and she set about taking the white gauze holding the bandage in place off his upper arm. After inspecting the incision, she threw away the bandages and smiled at her patient.

"Everything is healing well. Keep the incisions clean and don't touch them unless to pat them dry with an old soft towel. By next week all the stitches can come out of your arm and leg. The ones in your scalp can come out today or tomorrow."

"Does that mean I can go home today?" Jane asked hopefully.

"The doctor will be coming around in the next hour or two. He'll let you know if you can go home."

She washed her hands in Jane's sink and was soon on her way. Jane lay back relishing the feeling of the cotton of his pajamas on his newly exposed skin. His hair felt dirty after everything he had been through, so he wanted desperately to take a shower. He decided to wait and see if he could go home, and if so, he'd shower there. If not, he'd have a shower after the doctor left. Either way, he looked forward to standing under the hot water. Lisbon said she'd be in early with breakfast so Jane settled down to work out a particularly difficult puzzle until she showed up.

Teresa pulled up to the hospital with a tray of coffee, tea, warm muffins and some mixed fruit. If Jane was going to have to stay in the hospital, she wanted to make sure he ate something and didn't just brood all morning. If he was set free, he needed to eat something more than a stale cookie and lukewarm hospital tea. Either way, Teresa would make sure his stomach was full and satisfied.

Just as his stomach was starting to rumble from hunger, Jane's door swung open and his lovely Teresa sailed in with a smile and a delicious breakfast in hand.

"Your timing is perfect!" Jane announced, patting the bed for her to sit down next to him.

"Your turban is gone!" she said, pleased to see his head bandage free.

"Yup, arm and leg unwrapped too. Things are looking up" Jane informed her as he took a sip of his tea and reached for a muffin. "Now if the doctor just comes in with good news I'll be a happy man."

"You can be a happy man just for surviving Miriam Hoekstra" said Teresa, biting into her muffin.

Jane stopped mid-chew and looked at Teresa thoughtfully. "Yes, you're right of course. Going home would just be extra nice today."

They spent the next 20 minutes enjoying their food and being together. By the time Lisbon was throwing away all of the wrappers and napkins, there was a light tap on the door and a man popped his head inside the room.

"Mind if I come in?" said the doctor.

"We've been waiting for you" said Jane, waving the man inside.

"I see you're on the mend" the doctor said, examining Jane's injuries with satisfaction. "These look good" he mumbled to himself, checking the lines of stitches. Then he listened to Jane's heart, checked for a fever, examined his eyes for signs of the concussion healing. After a thorough examination he made some notes on his Ipad and then folded his hands across his ample belly.

"How're you feeling this morning?"

"Fine, no dizziness since yesterday noontime" said Jane honestly.

"Have you been up for a walk today?"

"Yes, to the bathroom and back, then a short walk around the room. It went well, no spins" Jane continued.

"Ok….Ok…" the doctor said, making more notes on his Ipad.

"Well, it seems you're well enough to leave us and convalesce at home" the doctor told Jane.

"Excellent!"

"But...no working, no heavy lifting, no exercise, just complete rest for two weeks. Got it?" said the stern doctor.

"Oh I'll make sure he follows the rules" said Teresa, stepping forward and holding Jane's hand with a beaming smile. "If he knows what's good for him he'll do as you say!"

The doctor smiled at Teresa and turned back to Jane. "Looks like you have quite the nurse there! If you want to get dressed, I'll sign the papers to let you out of here in the next half hour. Take care" he said, smiling at both Jane and Lisbon as he headed for the door. "Remember, go home, do nothing!" he warned Jane, then he was gone.

Jane reached up and grabbed Teresa in a bear hug. After he kissed her for an inordinately long time, he stretched and started to get off the bed.

"I brought you fresh clothes and took the others to the cleaners. Sorry, but your suit jacket was ruined" Teresa explained.

Jane just shrugged. "It was an old one anyway. Gives me a good excuse to upgrade my wardrobe" he said, walking over to his small closet to find his clean clothes waiting for him.

"I'll shower at home. I don't want anyone here to change their minds about letting me go so let's get a move on!" Jane said seriously. He really wanted to breathe some non recycled air as soon as possible. Lisbon kept herself busy gathering up his few possessions while he got his clothes on, then they just sat and waited for someone to come in with his discharge papers. 20 minutes later a nurse came in with some typed instructions for Jane's care, and the papers for Jane to sign. Then, they were on their way. The ride to Teresa's condo was a happy event, with both Jane and Teresa chatting about everything and nothing, just being grateful to be well and together once again. As soon as he entered the house, Jane headed upstairs to bask in the warm spray of the shower. He was contemplating washing his hair carefully when the glass shower door slid open and a delightfully naked Teresa stood behind him, sliding her arms around his torso and kissing the spot between his shoulder blades.

"Well hello there" Jane smiled as he turned around and kissed her eagerly.

"Welcome home" Teresa breathed as she rested her head on his firm chest. They stood silently under the hot spray holding each other before she eventually pulled away from Patrick and took the shampoo bottle in her hands.

"Need some help?"

"Please…" Jane sank down onto his knees facing Teresa, kissing her gently on her flat stomach and running his hands gently up and down her backside. He loved her completely.

Teresa gently washed Patrick's wavy hair, careful to leave his stitches undisturbed while she rinsed away the last traces of dried blood. She also made sure his injured arm and leg were thoroughly clean as well. Then they just enjoyed each other for another 15 minutes. Jane was both elated and aroused by his beautiful woman, wet and warm and so very very close. As soon as he could towel off he had her in bed and under him. As they slowly made love, all of the tension and stress of the last few days evaporated. Patrick surrounded Teresa's small body with his larger frame, his arms and legs wrapped around her like a security blanket. Their bodies moved in a slow, sensuous rhythm, gradually building in intensity until both climaxed at the same time. Afterwards, still wrapped up in each other's arms, they fell into a light sleep as they didn't yet want to climb out of the warm bed. When they finally roused themselves an hour later, Teresa checked the time and suggested they eat something before heading over to meet Cho at the FBI.

Jane followed Teresa downstairs wrapped in a robe and made tea while she laid out a light lunch. She wore her long football jersey and nothing else, and watching her move around the small kitchen, the sight of her sorely tempted Jane to toss her over his shoulder for another round of lovemaking instead of eating, but practicality won out over passion. They needed to get going if they were going to witness the interrogation of Miriam Hoekstra.

(FBI)

Cho arrived at work early, eager to get through some paperwork and assignments before he started in on Miriam. Every time the elevator doors slid open, he glanced up to see if Jane and Lisbon stepped out. When they hadn't come by 12 pm, he feared Jane had been told to stay another day in the hospital. Sighing in regret for his friend, he placed a call to have Miriam brought upstairs and put into Interrogation Room #2. Just as he put the receiver down and he reached for his coffee, the elevator doors slid open again and this time, Teresa and Patrick walked out beaming a smile for Cho and Wylie. Jane was wearing his tropical shirt and dark pants looking relaxed and happy to be out of the hospital at last. A dark line of jagged stitches peeked out from underneath his short sleeve, revealing the slash line on his muscled upper arm. Except for the large blue/black bruise coursing down the one half of his face he looked rested and immensely pleased to be back in the bullpen arm in arm with Lisbon.

"Jane! So good to see you!" Wylie called out, standing to shake Jane's hand as he strolled up to his desk. "How're you doing?"

"Wylie! I'm better. Good to be here" Jane replied, smiling at the young man. A few other agents stopped by to greet Jane and welcome him back. Cho stood up and waited for Jane and Teresa to make their way over to his desk.

"Glad you could make it. Are you out for good or just a day pass?" Cho teased Jane.

"I'm a free man. I just have to stay away from work or Teresa will ship me back to the hospital."

Cho smirked at Lisbon and grabbed some paperwork.

"Glad to know someone's keeping Jane on a short leash."

"Yes I am. One peek at a case file and he goes back to finish out his sentence in the hospital."

"I'm standing right here guys…"

While Cho and Lisbon had a good time poking fun at Jane, he was actually thrilled to be there getting teased. It was so much better than the silence of his green room.

"So, what's happening with the interrogation Cho?" Jane asked, curious to know when it would begin.

"I just called for Miriam to be brought up."

"Good. Let's see what she comes up with today" said Teresa. She was sure Miriam would weave a strange and fanciful tale.

"She'll be here in a few minutes so best get into the viewing room before she sees you Jane."

Jane nodded, taking Teresa's hand as they headed for the small room behind the interrogation room to watch Cho and Miriam through the two way mirror.

Taking their seats behind the mirror, Jane turned to Lisbon and grinned. This is where he needed to be today. Much as he desperately wanted to be in that room with Cho, it was Cho's show today. Jane was just an observer.

Within a few minutes, the door to Room #2 opened and Miriam was led in by a young guard who handcuffed her wrists to the table. Then he stood by the door until Cho showed up. A moment later Cho entered and signalled to the guard to wait outside the closed door. Cho never gave Miriam the courtesy of a smile or greeting. Instead he came in and sat down, studying some documents in his hands while she sat watching him, ignored. Jane grinned at this tactic. It was a sure way to make Miriam come to Cho, not the other way around. After what seemed like five minutes of being ignored, Miriam couldn't stand it anymore. She wanted attention. She looked nothing like the self-assured woman Jane had met at Hoekstra Importing not that long ago. Now she was dishevelled, with badly combed hair, no makeup, and dark circles under her eyes from a lack of sleep. But her attitude had not changed. She was still feeling very self-important.

"Well are you going to talk to me or do I get up and leave?" she demanded imperiously.

Cho glanced up at her, then let his eyes pause on her manacled wrists.

"You could try…" he said, then went back to his papers, purposely letting her stew.

"Down to Cho business…" laughed Teresa, getting comfortable in her chair.

Miriam immediately felt like a fool. Of course she couldn't get up and leave. Now she looked like an idiot and this agent hadn't even asked her one question yet! She bit her tongue and waited for Cho to make his next move. They hadn't even begun and she was already exhausted. Finally Cho shoved the papers aside, folded his hands on the table and stared at her.

"I'm a victim here you know" Miriam began uneasily, eager to get in the first comment, keen to turn Cho to her side.

"How so?"

"Well just look at me! Look at this cut on my arm! Who do you think did this to me?"

Cho eyed her slash mark and then turned his gaze back to the petulant woman.

"I think you did that to yourself for dramatic effect. Along with the poison on the knife edge, it would look pretty convincing to the untrained eye" Cho told her.

"Nonsense! My nephew Calvin slashed me, just like he did his sister and poor Agent Jane. If he wasn't dead, Agent Jane would tell you the same thing, may he rest in peace."

"Oh I'm resting peacefully Miriam…" whispered Jane, staring intently at the woman.

"Adrianna told us that you slashed her arm before you threw her down the well and left her for dead" Cho informed Miriam. She didn't flinch but took this news in stride. She'd been preparing for this very subject.

"Well of course she said that. She still loves her brother, no matter what he did, and she wants to protect him even if she lies about me. She knows what Cal did and would rather commit perjury than do the right thing and tell the truth" Miriam explained. "She needs to go to jail for lying about Calvin's part in all of this."

"So Cal slashed himself to look victimized, as well as you, Mr. Jane and Adrianna, then planned for Jane to be killed on the bridge after he threw his sister down the well. Have I got that right Miss Hoekstra?" Cho asked her again. A camera recorded their session for the court.

"Yes, exactly. Poor Adrianna must be shocked and confused. I can't tell you how happy I am to know she survived what he did to her." Miriam shook her hands and raised them up, showing Cho the handcuffs. "Are these really necessary? After all, what can I do to you, such a big strong man?" she flirted.

Snorting in derision, Cho leaned back and crossed his arms across his chest. "Those will stay on. You pose a flight risk. Get used to them."

Miriam's sweet expression fell off her face and she slammed her wrists back down on the table in anger. Cho was getting under her skin. The man showed no emotion, like a robot. How could she convince him to ignore the evidence? She was getting concerned about her ability to sway this man.

Cho got down to business.

"What made you attack Mr. Jane in the kitchen Miss Hoekstra?"

"I told you I didn't! Cal had a knife and was threatening Adri and I. Then Agent Jane came to the house and got taken hostage by Calvin as well. When your agent tried to help Adrianna and I, Calvin attacked him with the knife and Agent Jane fell on the floor. It was awful, so much blood...I was terrified! I always thought Calvin was a sweet, kind boy, but I was wrong. Now I can see that he was cruel."

Cho kept his gaze levelled at the woman and from his expression, she knewhe didn't believe a single word she said.

"So Calvin fooled everyone for years, and was the mastermind behind four deaths, according to you."

"Yes! He killed his parents and his grandparents. I think he was planning to kill Adrianna and I so that the business would be his. He would be a very rich young man as soon as Adrianna was out of the picture. But your Agent Jane stuck his nose in our affairs and made Cal push up his plans to kill us. If only Agent Jane had survived, he could tell you this himself! He'd tell you I'm telling you the truth!" she shouted, getting worked up dramatically in the telling of her fanciful tale.

Jane noticed she said that he had "stuck his nose in our affairs". Her anger with him was seeping out even as she pretended to mourn his passing.

Behind the two way mirror, Teresa snickered and turned to Jane. "You need to be resurrected from the dead to scare the crap outta her!"

"Oh I plan on re-joining this earthly coil before she goes back to her cell" Jane grinned. The woman was digging a deeper and deeper hole for herself by the minute.

"Miss Hoekstra, how do you explain a stamp in your passport dated the same weekend that your parents died in a road accident in Amsterdam two and a half years ago?" Cho asked the woman.

"I go to Amsterdam regularly, for business and pleasure."

"What were you doing in Amsterdam the weekend your mother and father died?"

"That was a long time ago and it's a painful time for me to talk about" Miriam said. Cho pressed her.

"That may be so, but you need to tell me why you went on that trip after telling everyone you were visiting a girlfriend out of town."

Miriam looked at Cho as if he could read her mind. Damn the man, what else did he know?

"Well, yes and no. I was going to go out of town to visit an old friend of mine, and that's what I told Cal and Adrianna, my brother too, but then Mamma called me from Amsterdam and asked me to fly out and keep her company. She wanted to stay longer and send Pappa and the grandkids home without her, so she could be with me for a few days. She wanted us to have a little holiday just for ourselves."

"So your mother called you? Is that right?" Cho confirmed.

"That's what I said Agent. It was my mother's idea that I come."

Cho zeroed in on her statement. "When?"

"I told you, she wanted me to fly out and join her on that Saturday. My father and the kids were returning the next day, Sunday."

"No, when did your mother call? What day, how soon before Saturday?"

Miriam grew flustered. She had to come up with a plausible answer.

"I don't remember! She called. That's the important thing."

"Well if that's how it happened, why is there no record of a phone call to your home number, the business number, or your cell phone? There is no record your mother called you from her cell phone or from her hotel. How do you explain that Miss Hoekstra?"

Miriam waved off Cho's question.

"I have no idea where she called from. She could have been in a store for all I know. And before you ask, I don't remember where I was when she reached me. So, you'll just have to believe me" she said with a self satisfied grin.

Cho looked through some papers, then turned his attention back to the smug woman, who clearly had relaxed and felt like she was more in control now.

"When did you book your ticket on the KLM flight to Amsterdam?"

Miriam wasn't expecting that question. When did she book her flight?

"I don't know. How should I remember which day I booked a flight so long ago? And why does it matter anyway? Mother called when she got to Holland and I booked my flight right away."

Cho had her concerned.

"So your mother called, invited you to stay a few days with her and you booked your flight right away, is that correct?"

"Do you have a problem understanding English Agent? That's what I said."

Cho ignored her insult and pulled up a sheet of paper, holding it out for Miriam to inspect.

"Then how do you explain these booking dates with your name on them?"

It was a list of passenger names and flights. With a sinking feeling Miriam read the document.


	30. Dead Man Walking

I hope you don't mind but the next chapter is ready to go and I want to get it out there. Whoo hoo, two chapters in one day!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 30

Dead Man Walking

Miriam grasped the paper issued by KLM and gazed down a list of blacked out names until she saw hers a third of the way down the list. She had booked a flight to go with her parents weeks before their trip. Several weeks later the trip was cancelled when her parents informed her that her nephew and niece would be going instead of her. Further down the page, the Friday morning before her parents died two days later, Miriam had rebooked the flight by phone through KLM.

"If you had booked the flight that Friday morning and flew out that evening, I think you'd remember how quickly that trip came together. Now do you remember it better?" Cho needled her. Her trip had been an act of anger and compulsion, not a well thought out process, he was sure of it.

"Like I said, I fly all the time and after a while it stops being exciting and a novelty. This was just another trip so of course it didn't stand out to me."

"Except that it was the trip that your father told you you couldn't take to make way for Cal and Adrianna instead. If, as you say, your mother went against your father's wishes and invited you anyway, I'm sure that particular trip, and it's tragic consequences, would stay in your memory forever" Cho said flatly, putting the paper away.

Miriam clasped and unclasped her hands.

"Well Agent Cho, everyone handles grief in their own way. I forgot details that didn't seem important at the time. So forgive me for not having a perfect memory!"

Cho made a point of staring at the woman, letting her know her explanation was weak, and unbelievable.

"So can't recall when that week your mother called you and where she called you from; there is no record of her call; you can't recall that you booked the flight Friday morning and flew out Friday night in order to get to Amsterdam Saturday morning; then you raced home from Amsterdam and showed up at work on Monday as if you'd only been away to see a friend" Cho counted off on his fingers.

"Miss Hoekstra, here's how it sounds to an outsider: you flew to Holland secretly, stayed for two days during which your parents mysteriously died, then you flew home again, keeping your knowledge of their deaths a secret until Klaas told you himself that they were dead. None of these seem like the actions of an innocent person."

Miriam stared at Cho and was unsure how to answer. Her brain was sluggish due to lack of sleep. How did he know she hadn't told Klaas she'd flown to be with her mother that weekend? Calvin must have told Cho after Jane had gotten her to boast about her murderous adventure in Amsterdam. She should have kept her mouth shut a bit longer…

"Well?"

"It was no one's business Agent Cho. So what if I took a trip and came home after a short time? I can come and go as I please! As for not telling Klaas, I was so shocked and grief stricken I never did tell him that I had seen our mother one last time. So you see, there was nothing nefarious about my trip there or my trip home again. Klaas and his kids didn't need to know every little thing I did when I wasn't at work. I lived my own life outside of work." There, she'd explained it all away.

"You had no intention of staying in Amsterdam one minute longer than necessary. You tampered with your parent's rental car, either to cause an accident that would harm them or to kill them. You knew you had to get back to Texas quickly so that no blame would fall on you. The murder was premeditated wasn't it Miss Hoekstra?"

"No of course not! I had nothing to do with their accident, it was Calvin...he did it!" she persisted.

Cho let the subject drop. He tried another line of questioning.

"Our agents went through the house you share with Cal and Adrianna. We found some interesting things in your bedroom."

Miriam looked horrified. Strange men had been poking through her very private and personal things? What did they find? What had she left in there that could incriminate herself?

"Miss Hoekstra, we found the letter under your mattress."

Miriam's head snapped up at this statement. That letter gave her comfort whenever she re-read it knowing that Cal and Adrianna still blamed themselves for their grandparents deaths. Dammit! Did they already read it and know they were forgiven? A ball of resentment threatened to explode in Miriam as she sat there watching Cho rip her private life wide open. What else had strangers found in her room? She had to collect her emotions and act as if this was nothing to her.

"What letter Agent Cho?"

Cho sighed loudly, disgusted with this woman. Even when the proof was incontrovertible she persisted in her lies.

"Really? You're going to pretend you don't know what I'm talking about?"

"But I don't!"

"Miss Hoekstra, it's too late for this now. Adri and Cal have already been given the letter from their grandparents that you took and hid for all these years and have read it. They know the truth. They didn't kill their grandparents because of the fight."

Miriam started to open her mouth but thought better of it. What could she say to this smug man? How could she explain why it was under her mattress and not in the hands of her nephew and niece? She'd have to try anyway.

"I found that letter, in some of Mamma's things. I put it in my room for safekeeping and always meant to give it to the kids...but I forgot all about it. That's all."

"Interesting that the letter somehow managed to get stuck under your mattress. That's quite the feat" Cho remarked sarcastically. "I've never seen that before."

Miriam rolled her shoulders to loosen up some tension that was building. She wouldn't bother with this letter business anymore. How could it even matter now? It was just a letter.

Cho consulted his notes while Miriam stewed, uncomfortable in her steel handcuffs. She'd kill for a cup of good coffee. Cho put his notes away and stared at her again.

"A laptop was found in your room that our forensic IT specialist searched. Can you explain your "to do" list Miss Hoekstra, the one where you list the various ways to kill your family members?" Cho stated, staring at the woman.

Miriam wrung her hands and thought fast. What could she say about that damned list? She smiled at Cho and tried to appear at ease with this question.

"Oh that? That was a game I was planning on playing years ago with the whole family. It was like those murder mystery dinner parties people have. You know, you get dressed up as a character, then during the party people have lines to say and it turns out one of you there was a murderer. We never got a chance to play it unfortunately" she explained with a straight face, hoping this sounded plausible.

Cho had to give this woman credit. No matter what he threw at her she came back with a semi-logical explanation. Not that a good lawyer wouldn't pick her lies apart, but under pressure she came up with good excuses.

"So this list was a hypothetical murder list, ways to kill your own family members for a game you might play, is that what you're saying?"

"Well the game can be played many ways, and the game is very expensive to buy, so I was just going to make up my own version to play. I thought it would be more fun if our lives were 'in danger' " she said in air quotes. "Too bad we didn't give it a try."

"And this was years ago, when you made this list?"

"Well yes...not sure when, but it was a long time ago. I forgot about it actually."

"You forget a lot of important things Miss Hoekstra. How can you explain the additions and revisions to the list over time? Each time you edited the list and came up with someone else to murder, the program date stamped it. It's an easy thing to find if you know computers" Cho asked.

Miriam was stymied. Of course she used her list and amended it as she got more and more angry with her family members. The list changed dramatically over the years. She opened her mouth to speak, but then stopped. She had no answer to explain away the time signatures of her online work. Not being an IT person, she had never considered someone could trace the timeline of her entries. Cho carried on.

"We also found items stolen from Cal and Adrianna, Klaas and your parents in a sort of shrine in your room. Why would you take their things and keep them hidden Miriam? Were they souvenirs to keep after they were all dead?"

Miriam worried her hands and tried to come up with an excuse for those items.

"I have to admit to a little problem with kleptomania, OK? If I see something I like I just have to take it, like Adri's necklace, or Cal's gloves and hat. I have stuff that belonged to my Dad and my Mother of course, but some of the other items were just reminders of good times I had with Cal and Adrianna when they were younger. How is that a crime?" she asked with sincerity.

"Or you were taking trophies from people you killed or were planning to kill."

"No, you're wrong! Why would I do that? I couldn't hurt a fly, let alone cause harm to a family member! No, that's what Cal did, not me. I loved my family dearly and so many of them were taken from me far too soon" she said with emotion, pleading with Cho to believe her.

Cho frowned as he looked at her. Miriam's capacity to lie was immense and she had no apparent sense of guilt about anything she'd done. Clearly she was a sociopath, if not a psychopath. A full psychiatric evaluation on the woman would be needed for the trial. She would insist she had done nothing wrong until the proof was irrefutable. Cho had an idea. He stood up and excused himself, then left the room. Miriam watched him go with curiosity. Was he giving up so easily or did she convince him that perhaps Cal was lying all along? That idea made her hopeful of getting out of this alive and free again.

"Can I have a coffee?" Miriam yelled after Cho as he shut the door.

Cho walked away from the interrogation room and knocked on the door at the viewing room.

"Come in" said Lisbon.

Cho stepped inside and smiled at Jane and Lisbon.

"She's sticking to her story" said Jane, studying her through the glass as she stared at her own reflection.

"Miriam feels that her insurance policy is the fact that you're dead. She believes that completely even though Cal told her you survived. As far as she's concerned, Cal is lying about that to make her scared. So, why not use that to our advantage?" Cho said.

"I like it. When should I rise from the dead?" Jane asked.

Cho shrugged. "Not sure, but watch for my signal in the mirror. I just want you to walk across the bullpen and stand by the sofa. Let Miriam see you. Hell, I don't care what you do, just freak her out, OK?" said Cho.

"Oh I can do that" smiled Patrick, loving this little charade.

"Good. See you on the outside" Cho smiled.

"This will be fun" said Teresa.

"So glad I didn't miss this" agreed Patrick.

Wylie tapped on the door and handed Jane a cup of tea in his blue cup and gave Lisbon a fresh coffee in a mug. Then he silently closed the door again. Taking their seats once again, they waited for Cho to get back to working the truth out of Miriam.

Cho made Miriam wait while he made himself a fresh coffee, so that by the time he returned to her, she was fuming at being left alone and ignored. She eyed his coffee and was insulted that he had not brought her one. The caffeine would have helped her to think more clearly. She bit her lip to refrain from barking at him in anger.

"Miss Hoekstra, how did Patrick Jane die?"

Now she was on solid ground. This she could talk about with confidence.

"You know how...on that bridge."

"Tell me more."

Miriam relaxed and was happy to weave a good lie for this agent.

"I got away from Cal when he marched Agent Jane to the bridge. That was his big mistake. As soon as I could manage it, I broke out of my restraints and got behind the wheel of the van and drove away as quickly as I could to save myself! That's when I heard on the radio that Cal and Mr. Jane were trapped on the bridge. Cal was just going to kill your agent himself and throw him in the river, but someone must have called the police because suddenly they were surrounded, according to the man on the radio. Cal's plan fell apart! Then there was so much shooting! Oh it must have been terrible and poor Agent Jane died in the attack. I honestly don't know how Cal survived, but he's been telling lies about me every since!"

"And how did you know Mr. Jane died?"

"Well the man on the radio said so, and since Cal is still alive, it had to have been Agent Jane who died. It's not hard to figure out Agent Cho" she said dismissively.

"So if Mr. Jane had made it out alive that day on the bridge, he'd be the best witness to support your version of the story, correct Miss Hoekstra?"

"Absolutely! Mr. Jane's testimony would be truthful and I wouldn't be sitting here in handcuffs, Calvin would be instead. But now that he's dead, how can I convince you that I am the victim here? If only Agent Jane hadn't been killed like that...the poor man...he was so kind to me you know…" she sniffed dramatically.

"It's too bad he can't back up your story Miss Hoekstra. Sounds like he would be able to tell us what really happened."

"Oh yes! If only he had lived! He knew the truth and died because of it!" she elaborated.

Cho smiled and looked over his shoulder towards the mirror. Nodding slightly, he then turned back to Miriam to wait for her to compose herself.

"Showtime!" Jane announced, seeing Cho's signal.

"Break a leg" laughed Lisbon, loving how this little charade was working out. Good thing Jane was out of the hospital as he was now playing a key role in catching Miriam Hoekstra in her lies.

Miriam wiped at her eyes, removing an invisible tear as Cho sipped his coffee and pretended to read another document. As Miriam got bored with being ignored, she gazed out into the bullpen through the wall of glass. As she stared at the various agents busy at their desks, she caught sight of the back of a tall handsome man in a flowered shirt as he strolled towards the bank of windows at the back of the room. When the man turned around, she almost screamed in shock. There was Agent Jane, standing chatting with another agent, holding a blue cup and saucer! A moment later Agent Lisbon walked over to the man and smiled at him. Both of them exchanged a few words and Miriam shook herself. She was mistaken. That couldn't be Agent Jane. He was dead, she was sure of it. The man on the radio said people died!

Then the man who looked so much like the person she had pistol whipped and knifed turned to face her full on. Lifting his cup in a salute, he winked at her and took a sip of tea. When she gasped out loud, the man then put down his cup and waved at her with his free hand.

"Is there a problem Miss Hoekstra?" asked Cho, watching the comedy play out with amusement. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Miriam tore her eyes off the smiling blonde man and stared at Cho.

"What is this? Is this some kind of trick? Is this a game? Because I won't fall for it! It won't work! Agent Jane is dead and that man is an impostor!" she screamed at Cho. "He looks nothing like Agent Jane!"

Cho looked nonplussed and stood up. He went to the glass wall and knocked on the pane of glass. When Jane saw him, Cho signalled to him to come over. Miriam watched in horror as Jane sauntered across the room, depositing his teacup on Lisbon's desk, then he and Agent Lisbon came over to Interrogation Room #2. Knocking on the door first, Jane opened it up and stepped inside, followed by Agent Lisbon.

"Well hello Miriam! Nice to see you here, like this!" he smirked. "Nice handcuffs!"

Miriam shook her head in disbelief. This was a scam, a fraud, a sham designed to get her to admit her guilt!

"Who are you? And don't you dare think you can smirk at me young man!" she admonished him.

"Thank you, I will….and I'm fine by the way, still not dead. A little banged up and full of bullet holes no thanks to you, but generally, I think I'm doing quite well… wouldn't you say so Agent Lisbon?" Jane carried on, turning to Lisbon for effect.

"Oh yes, considering what Miriam did to you and the fact that you got shot, you're doing very well" she played along.

Miriam was stunned and temporarily rendered speechless as she realized the man was, in fact, Agent Jane.

"It looks like you got your wish Miss Hoekstra" said Cho with pleasure, eyeing the shocked woman's reaction to a living, breathing Patrick Jane.

"Wha….what?" she said, turning her attention back to Cho.

"Mr. Jane. You said he was the best witness as to what happened on the bridge, and that his testimony would be truthful. You told me you wished he had lived so that he could tell me what really happened. Looks like you'll get your wish."

Miriam's head swivelled back and forth from Cho's impassive face to Jane's beaming smile and felt sick. Cal had told her that Mr. Jane had survived and she hadn't believed him. Her whole defence was predicated on the fact that the agent was dead and couldn't back up Adrianna and Cal's stories. But now, with Jane very much alive, Miriam knew she was trapped. Jane knew everything! She had been so sure he would be dead soon that when he asked how everyone died, she had boastfully told him the details of the murders with pride. She gloated over her successful crimes. When he realized the keyring with the wooden shoes indicated that she had been in Amsterdam the weekend her parents died, she didn't deny it but elaborated on the story. God how could she have been so stupid!

"If you need me for anything, I'll be on my sofa" Jane grinned at Cho. "Miriam, nice to see you, in chains, where you belong" he smiled. "See you in court."

Jane and Lisbon left the room and picked up their drinks on their way back to the sofa. Sitting in the sun on the soft leather sofa, glaring at Miriam in the interrogation room, Jane relaxed and sipped his tea, knowing his very presence so close by was going to throw the lying bitch into a tailspin. Miriam watched him go and stared at him as he sat on the sofa clearly watching her.

"Mr. Jane isn't dead Miss Hoekstra. This changes things for you" Cho said quietly. "Based on his testimony, Cal's, and Adrianna's, I know that everything you told me is a lie."

Miriam was so unhinged by the prematurely-assumed deceased man's appearance, that Cho's words failed to register. She couldn't take her eyes off Jane and his patronizing smile.

"Make him leave!" she barked at Cho.

"Why?"

"He's watching me!"

"He works here. That's where he sits."

"He's intimidating me!"

"He's not doing anything to you. Deal with it."

Miriam glared at the sanctimonious grin on Jane's face and grew wild with anger. She forgot her handcuffs for a moment and tried to stand up. As she did her arms were yanked back down to the tabletop painfully, cutting her wrists. As she yelped in surprise and pain, Cho ordered her to sit down and not move or she would be further restrained.

"My lawyer will get this case thrown out of court because of this...this trick" she seethed.

Cho sat back placidly and sipped his coffee.

"No he won't. There is no trick. You need to understand something Miss Hoekstra. We have hard evidence supporting your guilt, we have three living eye witnesses who heard you describe how you killed four people, plus those same three witnesses suffered at your hands, one to the point of almost dying in a well, poisoned. So if you think this case will be thrown out because Mr. Jane is sitting on his sofa drinking tea, you're insane!"

Miriam leaned over the table and screeched in Cho's face. If her hands had been free she would have scratched his eyes out. Cho leaned out of her way and watched, unfazed, as the young guard stepped into the room. At a signal from Cho, he unlocked the prisoner's handcuffs from the ring on the table and stood Miriam up as she struggled against him. He held her upper arm as he led her out of the room. As the guard walked a struggling Miriam away from Cho, she took him by surprise by pulling back on his grip and broke free, turning and running towards Jane. Jane was putting his cup down and turned to speak to Lisbon when he suddenly had the enraged woman kicking his legs, flailing at him with her cuffed hands and screaming at him as two burly guards ran over to subdue her. While Jane was trying to protect his injured face and head from his attacker, Lisbon went on the offensive and sprang up to push Miriam off Jane. The guards and Lisbon wrestled the hysterical woman to the ground, holding her down while another officer put shackles on her ankles. She screamed the whole time, uttering death threats to Jane, Lisbon, Cho and just about everyone who was watching the pathetic spectacle. When she was secured, they stood her up roughly and dragged her away from Teresa and Patrick.

Teresa turned back to check on Jane.

"You OK?"

Rubbing his bruised shins, Jane whistled in pain.

"I thought I was safe here…" he groused.

Cho ran over to them looking angry.

"Sorry Jane. She shouldn't have gotten away from our guard so easily. He'll be disciplined for inattention and ineptitude. How are you?" he asked with concern.

Lifting his pant legs, Jane examined his bruised and broken skin along his shin bones.

"She's got a mean kick, that's for sure. I'll live Cho" he said, feeling like a punching bag yet again.

"I'll get some ice" Teresa suggested, getting up from the sofa and heading for the small kitchen.

Miriam cursed and wailed all the way to the elevators that took prisoners downstairs to the cells. Once she was gone, the bullpen quickly fell back into it's usual hum of activity. Jane let Teresa tend to his injuries as he leaned back on the sofa. Cho sat next to him and grinned.

"Think we freaked her out?"

"A masterful job. Well done Cho" said Jane, grinning at the small part he played in getting the woman to finally lose it in front of a roomful of FBI agents. Teresa finished dabbing at his cuts and stood next to the men, giving Jane the eye...as in… time to go.

Jane understood and smiled. It had been a big day.

"If you don't need me here anymore Cho, I think I'd like to go home now" Jane said, standing up and taking Teresa's hand.

"No problem, it was fun, except for the kicking part... get some rest and I'll keep you informed as to the case. In the meantime, do nothing, OK Jane?" Cho advised him. Teresa would have her hands full for the next two weeks until Jane was finally allowed to return to work.


	31. Blue Angel

Sorry I haven't had a chance to reply to every review this week but I will. Thank you to everyone and the new guest reviewers, for writing. On to the next chapter!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 31

Blue Angel

Lisbon and a now limping Jane walked to the elevators as Cho returned to his desk. Once out of the building they drove to the condo and settled down for a quiet afternoon. By 2 o'clock their stomachs were rumbling and they ordered in some Thai food to make up for the small lunch they had eaten before rushing off to the bullpen.

"I could get used to this" Jane mumbled between bites of Pad Thai and green curry chicken.

"You'll be bored by tomorrow, so enjoy this moment while you can" Lisbon reminded him. "Oh by the way, you have to go back to the ER tomorrow morning to get your stitches out" she reminded him. The stitches in his scalp were due for removal and the others in his arm and leg could be removed the following week.

"Ugh...sounds gruesome...shall we do something fun afterwards… as a little reward for my pain and suffering?" Jane suggested.

"Such a baby!" teased Teresa. "What have you got in mind?"

Jane grinned at his lover and reached for the rice bowl. "Well I never did get to that exhibit over at the museum you know" he suggested, watching Teresa for a reaction.

"The museum? Where all this started? Jane, are you crazy?"

"For wanting to become more cultured and educated? It's not the museum's fault that I got caught up in a murder mystery! If you don't want to come with me just say so and I'll wander around the exhibits...in the dark… alone…"Jane said sadly, grabbing a crispy Vietnamese spring roll.

"So now you're going to guilt me into going with you when I clearly remember saying I wasn't interested in going the last time you invited me!" Teresa reminded him.

"That was then, this is now. I'm recuperating from serious injuries Lisbon and it hurts me to know you would rather stay home than accompany me and make sure I'm alright while I hobble painfully around the huge museum, all by myself" he rubbed it in. "But, I'll be OK, really" he added for good measure.

"I hate you!" Lisbon barked at him, reaching for the spring rolls beside his plate. As she did so Jane put down his fork and held her arm, pulling her close to him.

"It's a good thing that I love you then" he said as he kissed her tenderly.

Teresa grinned as his lips crushed hers. "You're incorrigible" she smiled.

"I do what I can with what I've got" he whispered in her ear, ending his comment with a light lick across her earlobe.

Lisbon felt her heart quicken as her legs grew weak. He knew exactly where to touch her to cause her to melt. But she would make him work for dessert!

"Good thing too" she smiled. "Pass the spring rolls invalid."

Jane groused as he handed over the food plate, his passion taking a back seat to Lisbon's hunger, for now.

"You're a cruel woman!"

"Yes I am, and don't you forget it!" she laughed, biting into the delectable morsel.

Their meal passed in a continuous string of insults and teasing, each one trying to outdo the other in zingers. When they were finished, Lisbon was trying to clean up when Jane took her by the hand and walked her towards the stairs.

"Time for a nap?" Teresa teased Patrick.

"Time for dessert" he cooed at her.

(Austin General Hospital)

Adrianna was flat out bored. The pile of magazines and books left by her brother and her girlfriends had lost their appeal, and now she just lay in bed, desperate for something to break up the monotony of the long afternoon ahead of her. Cal had spent as much time as possible with her, and they had talked through many of the issues that had caused them to turn on each other over the last few years. All of their problems could be traced back to interference from Aunt Miriam. Her constant whispering in Adri's ear about how immature and lazy Calvin was, and her advice to Cal to blow off Adrianna's authority at the importing company had been successful. Looking back at the situation, both Cal and Adri realized they had been manipulated and poisoned by their Aunt's evil intents. Now that everything was out in the open, they knew they could become the close brother and sister they once had been. Any hard work needed to restore their relationship would be well worth the effort.

A nurse came in to remove Adrianna's lunch tray and tried to make the woman more comfortable, but until the cast was applied to her leg, Adri was very restricted in how much she could move. The frustration was hard to bear. As the nurse left, a light knock on her door made Adri smile. Maybe a friend took time off work in the middle of the day to come and visit, thank goodness!

"Come in!"

The door opened to reveal a very handsome young man wearing a navy blue firefighter's uniform. He was tall, sandy haired and well built. He apparently spent a lot of time lifting weights in a gym, thought Adri quickly. It didn't hurt either that he looked like he had just stepped out of GQ magazine.

"Miss Hoekstra?"

"Yes?"

"May I come in? I don't think you remember me" the young man said, stepping in and advancing towards the bed.

"I'm Michael Lemstra. I was the firefighter who went down the well and brought you up to the surface" he explained, twisting his watch around and around his wrist in nervousness.

"Oh….OH!" said Adri with understanding. "You're my angel!" Then she laughed in embarrassment. That had sounded so silly!

"An angel? I'm no angel, just ask my parents!" Michael laughed, pulling up a chair beside the bed. "Do you mind if I sit?"

"Please do...sorry, about the angel comment…" Adri said, feeling awkward.

"It's just that when you found me, I was pretty out of it and I didn't understand what was going on. You were dangling down in front of me, and it looked like you were flying down to meet me. I thought I was dying and that you...came to take me home…" she tried to explain without sounding lame.

Michael smiled deeply, having experienced similar stories from confused and injured patients.

"Don't worry about it. You were in pretty rough shape when I got to you, and I guess I would look like I was floating in midair. I'm no angel but I try to do my best" he smiled. God this girl was gorgeous! She was blonde, blue eyed and petite, but obviously made of strong mettle to have survived her ordeal in the well.

Michael worked with an Austin fire department and had taken specialized training in emergency medicine. He loved being a firefighter, doing his best to save people when they were having the worst day of their lives.

"How are you feeling now Miss Hoekstra? How's the leg?"

"Oh please, call me Adri or Adrianna. And my leg is getting better. They tell me I can get a cast on it by the end of the week, and then I can try to stand up. I can't wait!"

"Sounds good Adri. I have a sister named Adrianna!"

"Wow! That's a coincidence! Lemstra...that's a Dutch name isn't it? Small world…" said Adri shyly, suddenly aware of her dishevelled hair and lack of makeup. She must look a mess. Michael studied her face and thought that she was a natural beauty.

"Do you mind if I visit for a while before I go to work?" Michael asked. "And you can call me Mike."

"I'd love some company...Mike" Adri grinned.

"I heard your brother and an FBI agent were also hurt by your Aunt. How are they doing?" Mike asked, trying to find something to talk about. This nervousness was new to him.

"My brother was slashed with a knife, like me and Mr. Jane, but he's OK. We all got an anti-venom shot so the venom on the knife wouldn't make us sick. Mr. Jane got hurt much more seriously. My Aunt knifed him twice, then he got shot on the bridge. I think it's a miracle he didn't die. Thanks for asking" she smiled.

Mike smiled at this brave girl and then suddenly remembered he had brought her something.

"I have a little gift for you...just something silly really... it's nothing…" he mumbled, reaching into his pocket. After a bit of bashful fiddling around, he managed to pull a small plastic bag out of his pocket.

"I hope you like licorice! Do you know Drop?" he asked innocently.

Adri burst out laughing, taking his gift happily. "Look in that cupboard" she instructed him.

Mike reached over and opened the door on the small cupboard by the bed and pulled out a large plastic bag filled with Drop.

"Uh oh…" he smirked. "I guess my little bag looks pathetic now!" he grimaced.

"Oh no...it doesn't!" Adri assured the embarrassed man. "My company imports this candy. Wherever you bought your drop, they're most likely a customer of mine!" she explained.

"Well in that case, I'm happy to make your company a bit more successful. Shall we?" he asked, dipping into the bag of drop she offered to him. This broke the ice and they both forgot themselves, laughing and getting to know each other. After 40 minutes, which flew by so quickly they both couldn't believe it, Mike checked his watch and announced he had to go.

"Time to get going. My shift starts in a half hour. Can't be late" he said with regret.

"Mike, thank you so much for coming. I was so bored and lonely, but you made the afternoon fly by for me" Adri admitted, now sorry that this nice man had to leave. As he walked to the door, he turned back and smiled at his lovely new friend.

"Would it be OK if I came back and visited again? Maybe tomorrow if you feel up to it?" he asked bashfully.

"That would be great! I'd like that" said Adri, her heart racing just a bit at the thought of seeing Mike again.

"Good! Can I bring anything with me to help you pass the time til you get outta here?" he asked.

"Do you like board games?"

"Sure do."

"A board game would be great. Any kind. Surprise me!" she said.

"OK, one surprise, coming right up! See you tomorrow Adrianna!" Mike said with a final wave goodbye, and then he had to go.

Adri sank back against her pillow grinning like an idiot. Wow! Did that really just happen? She had to admit, not many men had that effect on her, and Mike had completely bowled her over. She resolved to make herself a bit more presentable before he returned tomorrow.

(FBI Headquarters)

Miriam Hoekstra struggled against the restraints the guards had put around her ankles, making walking a challenge. She continued to scream insults and curses at anyone who dared to look at her as she was pulled off the elevator and led back to her holding cell. The two guards escorted her inside and then removed her shackles and handcuffs. Only when she had agreed to sit calmly on her bunk did they finally leave her alone.

The cold room and steel bars facing Miriam were already making her feel claustrophobic after only a couple of days of incarceration. Desperate to get out and go home to have a hot shower, shampoo her hair and make herself a meal, Miriam finally came to the realization that she would never again have those simple freedoms. If what Agent Cho told her was correct, she would soon be in a Federal prison awaiting her trial, which could be months away at the soonest. In the meantime, she would just be another prisoner accused of heinous crimes and would suffer continual indignities at the hands of the guards and the other prisoners. The idea of sharing a cell with a stranger made her skin crawl. Suddenly her attitude of invincibility feel away and Miriam was left with nothing. She had nothing and no one on her side. Life on the outside suddenly seemed like a faraway memory.

Self-reflection had never been one of her strong suits, and even now, it was difficult for Miriam to see that she was the author of her own downfall, choosing instead to ruminate on how it was all her father's fault. Because he made her feel second best, everything that happened to her and her family flowed out from his insensitivity. Then to top it off he made sure he left the business to her brother and his idiot wife. Men had ruined her life and taking back power in any way available seemed like the right thing to do. So what if some people had to die to make way for her future success? This all made sense to Miriam and when she considered that it all could have worked out in her favour if Patrick Jane had not poked around in the Hoekstra family history, she almost went mad with fury. Another stupid man had ruined her life!

The sound of heavy footsteps interrupted her thoughts. A guard shoved a plastic tray of food into her cell through a small opening in the bars.

"Eat up, it's your last meal before you get transferred."

Miriam stood up in a panic.

"Transferred? Transferred where, when?"

"Federal Prison outside of Dallas. You're leaving in an hour, so eat. This is the last meal until tomorrow."

Miriam watched the guard leave with a sinking feeling. A jail cell here was just as bad as a jail cell anywhere, but at least here she was alone and not having to share anything with a stranger. She thought she had at least a few more days, maybe a week, before she was moved to prison. Prison….the very sound of the word made her feel ill. As she listlessly picked up her paper plate, she barely tasted the sandwich that comprised her meal tonight. Food was no longer something to be excited about but simply a way to keep going. Fear was creeping into her heart and mind. Fear was supplanting ego and ambition, fear overtaking whatever remained of the person Miriam used to be.

(Teresa's Condo)

Teresa and Patrick lay entwined in each other's arms. They had made love patiently, languorously, letting the afternoon drift away as they explored each other's bodies intimately. Teresa moved under Patrick with his rhythm setting the pace, their minds empty of anything but the feeling of skin on skin, heat and sweat and tangy salty taste on tongues. They had been together often enough now, sexually, to know what each one needed and responded to, so each coupling built on their experiences and added so much more to what they could give each other. It was pure physical love. Sleep came next, arms and legs wrapped around slack bodies, hair fanned out on pillows and a low, soft purring coming from Patrick as he slept without dreams, and more importantly, without nightmares.

When Patrick finally awoke, it was twilight. The sun was almost hitting the horizon and the sky lit up with a cherry red explosion of dying light. Jane slid out of the sheets, kissing his sleeping woman on the forehead before he pulled on his boxers and cleaned up in the bathroom, then he headed downstairs to start a fresh pot of coffee and a cup of tea for himself. He had a small headache, but it was manageable considering the crazy day he'd had. Then he set about making a light supper of cold cuts, a variety of cheeses, croissants fresh from the market and olives mixed with pickles. It was a very light, continental meal but satisfying and filling. By the time he had the small kitchen table set with bright placemats and cutlery, Lisbon had drifted downstairs in her bathrobe and followed the scent of fresh coffee.

Coming over to Jane at the counter, she leaned into him and placed a small kiss on the back of his neck, running her hands along his chest, tweaking his nipples. A groan issued from his throat as Jane grabbed her hand.

"If you want me to get through this meal like an adult instead of a randy teenager, you'd better stop doing that right now Miss Lisbon!" he warned her with a smile.

"I could handle a randy teenager, no problem" Teresa replied, giving his right nipple a cheeky tweak. "But since you went to all this trouble to make supper, I'll let you go, for now…" she said teasingly.

"You have no idea the power you have over me" Jane said, trying to disguise the tenting in his boxers.

Eying his discomfort, Teresa pulled away and poured herself a coffee.

"Oh yes I do" she grinned, taking a seat and popping an olive into her mouth.

Jane poured himself a cup of tea and sat opposite to her and handed her a croissant.

"Today was fun" Teresa said to him, taking a selection of cheeses and cold cuts.

"Well worth getting kicked in the shins. Cho had Miriam tied up in knots" Jane agreed.

"She just refused to believe you were alive. She had pinned the whole story of her innocence on your being unable to refute her testimony. What a shock for her to see you walk out of that room" grinned Teresa, relishing the unveiling of the very much live Patrick Jane.

"I wish it was all over with though...her guilt is a non-issue."

"True, but the trial will be short. There are too many witnesses who will attest to what she did, and we have solid evidence of her hand in the murders of her parents and her brother and his wife. When we go to trial, it won't take long" Teresa assured Jane. Catching the bad guys was the fun part, testifying as to what they did as a witness always bored Jane. Once they were caught, he was mentally done with them.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"I don't feel like sharing this meal with Miriam Hoekstra" said Patrick, sick of the woman.

"Then she will be uninvited" said Teresa, glad to chance the subject.

Patrick sipped his tea thoughtfully.

"Now about our trip to the museum tomorrow…"


	32. Goodbye, So Long!

Well this is it, the final chapter. Thank you to everyone who took this ride with me. Once I begin I never know where I'll end up! This was fun! Thanks for all of the likes and reviews! Until the next time, thanks!

Bridge of Sighs

Chapter 32

Goodbye, So Long!

Cho glanced at the paper sitting on his desk that had just been emailed to him. Smiling deeply, he took a pen and signed his name to the prison transfer papers for Miriam Hoekstra. Upon doing so, she was no longer going to be his responsibility or his house guest in the detention cell downstairs. Since there was nothing more to be gleaned from her in the way of a confession, and the evidence against her was irrefutable, there was no need to keep her locked up in his jail. Soon the cell would be needed for someone else and Miriam would be on her way to the Federal prison in Dallas as soon as the guards and van arrived in Austin. As Cho signed off of her case, downstairs, Miriam's lawyer approached her cell quietly.

The woman had not done herself any favours by behaving like a wild animal when she attacked Jane in the bullpen, and so, she would be handled with extra security when she arrived at the prison. The lawyer studied Miss Hoekstra and knew he was representing a loser, not that it would do his career any harm, but he always liked to think he had worked for the benefit of his client, no matter how heinous their crimes were. This woman gave him nothing to work with. Whatever happened to her now would be up to the judge and jury. All he could do was guide her through the judicial process when her trial finally came up. Miriam sat on her bunk facing the wall. She had stopped staring out of her cell door at the activities of the other prisoners a long time ago. She felt superior to them and besides, she had learned in a few short days that making eye contact invited abuse or unwanted friendship. She sat in self-imposed exile, finding the seams in the bricks more interesting than the world outside her cell. A slight "ahem" drew her attention back to the front of her cell, revealing that lawyer Mr. Stone in his immaculate black suit once again.

"Miss Hoekstra."

"You again. What do you want?" she groused. If this man didn't have a plan to get her out of there, she had no interest in engaging in meaningless small talk.

"Miss Hoekstra, I understand that you will be transferred out of here very soon. The papers have been signed and faxed back to the prison in Dallas. If you have any questions that I can answer for you, now would be the time to ask. After today, my contact with you will be much more limited."

Miriam stood up and walked over to the bars on her cell door. Grasping them tightly she pressed her face up against them and stared at the man on the other side.

"I want to know how to get out of here, today. If you can't tell me that, you can just fuck off."

The lawyer was used to this kind of language. Desperate people quickly dropped any pretense of manners and courtesy. None of it affected him personally.

"I'm sorry to tell you that you will not be set free today. The evidence against you is convincing, both the physical evidence, and more importantly, the eyewitness accounts of your crimes. As I said during our first meeting, my job is to get the lightest sentence possible for you once we face the judge. If I can save your life and keep you from the death penalty, I will consider this a win for both of us" he said succinctly.

Miriam laughed in spite of her anger. This guy was genuinely funny!

"A win-win for both of us? Are you kidding me? A win if I spend every day for the rest of my life in a Federal prison? How is that a win? I don't see you facing jail time, so I guess every day is a fucking win for you, you useless idiot!" she barked.

Mr. Stone smirked slightly and shifted the weight on his feet.

"As I have not killed anyone Miss Hoekstra, yes, every day is a win for me."

He waited for the woman to respond, either with a question or a concern. She turned her back on him and stood facing the wall with her arms crossed against her chest. She thought he was a waste of her time. Since she was not interested in helping herself, Mr. Stone decided it was time to go. He had other clients who needed his advice much more than this piece of trash. With that, he turned and walked away from Miriam as she screamed insults at his back. She had nothing to ask of him but needed someone to blame for her current predicament. It was a pattern she would repeat for as long as she lived.

By the time she had given up hurling invective at the world at large and the guards standing close by, she had no time to sit and contemplate her situation any further as the elevator doors slid open, revealing several huge men in Federal Corrections uniforms. They walked the short distance to Miriam's cell and waited as an FBI guard unlocked her door.

"Step back and put your hands behind your back!" ordered the largest of the men. Miriam had already stepped back in fear when she saw who these people were and why they had come to her cell. This was it! She was really going to prison, right now! Her first reaction was stunned silence, then she felt the urgent need to throw up. Before she could do that, two of the men grabbed her arms and wrenched them behind her back, putting them in handcuffs attached to a chain that went around her waist. That chain was attached to a set of manacles that surrounded her ankles. As soon as the last lock was snapped shut, she was goose stepped out of her cell and pulled along the short corridor towards the elevator that would take her to the garage where a prison transfer vehicle waited for her. The back door opened revealing a prison guard holding a semi-automatic weapon. Miriam was half lifted, half pushed into the back of the van and immediately chained to a large ring in the floor.

As she took her last look out into the parking garage and the freedom it represented, she knew, deep down, that her life was now effectively over.

Cho watched the Prison transfer vehicle depart the garage with Miriam Hoekstra inside. With her exit from the building, he could now wash his hands of her. Smiling with satisfaction, he turned and headed for his car. A cold beer and pizza would be waiting for him at home.

(Austin General Hospital)

The visit by Mike Lemstra had made her whole afternoon a much happier experience, and for Adrianna, this was a new feeling. She had always been so busy studying, working and getting up to speed running the business after her parents died, when she and Cal had the heavy responsibility of being in charge of Hoekstra Importing, that dating had been put on the back burner. As she lay in bed considering her life now, she realized that she and Cal did know how to run the company and should enjoy some personal time. Mike Lemstra was the incentive Adrianna had needed to put herself first for a change. The fact that she couldn't do much for the next several weeks until she was up and walking again was another reason to spend some time thinking about her priorities, one of which just might be giving romance a chance. She hoped Cal would do the same thing. Both of them deserved some happiness.

Cal came by to visit as soon as he could after he made enquiries about a new place to live. His buddy was happy to have him stay as long as he wanted, but Cal desperately wanted to put down roots in a house, or condo or apartment of his own choosing. Today he had toured a few potential places. Tomorrow he would do the same thing. Adri could move in with him if she couldn't bear to go back to the house that held so many bad memories. It was something they needed to discuss. If the house was to be sold, then it would have to be emptied, painted and updated for sale. The next 6 months were going to be very busy for both he and his sister. Little did he know that by then, he would also have the help of her boyfriend Mike to help with the move.

(Teresa's Condo)

After a late supper, during which Teresa and Patrick laughed over Miriam's reaction to his rise from the dead, they decided to forget about the dreadful woman until they had to get involved in the case once again as witnesses for the prosecution. The trial was at least six months to a year away, so the murderous Aunt was effectively out of their lives for a good long while. Jane and Lisbon settled down to watch a movie for the evening. Their day had started with his release from the hospital and ended with Miriam being led away in chains. What could be better than that? While Patrick flipped through the selection of movies, Lisbon poured them both a glass of wine and brought some snacks over to the table in front of the sofa. The phone ringing distracted Jane with annoyance. If Lisbon had a case he'd be angry and sad to see her go out again tonight.

"Hello? Cho! What's up?"

Jane watched Lisbon's face. Nope...not a new assignment...good news apparently...smiles and some head nodding...definitely something good.

"Thanks Cho. I'll tell Patrick. See you soon! Bye."

Jane sat back with his wine and handed Lisbon hers. "Well?"

"Miriam Hoekstra was taken away from the FBI holding cell tonight and is on her way to the Federal prison in Dallas as we speak."

Jane stood up and clinked his glass against Teresa's.

"I'll drink to that!" he grinned.

"Cheers!"

"And with that news, this evening will be a Hoekstra free zone, agreed?" Patrick suggested.

"Hoekstra who?" asked Teresa with a confused look, reaching for a handful of peanuts. "Got a movie?"

"As you wish…" Patrick smiled, turning the lights down and snuggling up to the woman he loved.

They wouldn't have to think about that evil lunatic again for many, many months, until they were called to testify against Miriam Hoekstra.

(Six Months Later)

Once their murderous Aunt had been incarcerated in the Federal prison to await her trial, Adrianna and Cal wasted no time in moving on with their lives. Adri had recovered well from her broken leg with the help of her brother and her new friend Mike. In the intervening months, the Hoekstra house had been sold, Cal was settled in his new home, Adrianna had found a condo that she loved and she and Mike were a steady couple. Both Cal and Adri were jointly running a very successful importing enterprise efficiently, and profitably. A new accountant had discovered that money had been methodically stolen from their business while Miriam was doing their accounting, and so, a charge of embezzling was also brought against their Aunt. Upon checking, the money was found in Miriam's bank account and was returned to the business after some hard work on the part of the police and a very sharp lawyer. Every once in awhile Patrick drove over to Hoekstra Importing and filled a bag with droppie, then sat and visited with the enthusiastic young brother and sister who ran the business before he went on his way home to his lovely new bride.

(One Year Later)

Far away in Dallas, in a cell shared with a psychopath like herself, Miriam awaited her fate at the hands of the jury after a mercifully short trial. She had endured the smug testimony of that asshole Patrick Jane, who made a point of glaring at her the whole time he told his story. Even though everything he told the court was true, she hated him anyway just because he survived her murderous intents. The same could be said of her nephew and niece. Her plan for them had been to die a terrifying, painful death, so that the Hoekstra fortune would be hers and hers alone. What she witnessed in the courtroom surprised her. The once insecure Calvin was now an assured young man in a suit, clear eyed and strong in his attacks on his Aunt. Adrianna, completely well now, refused to even acknowledge Miriam's presence in the courtroom, choosing instead to gaze at a handsome young man who sat in the second row watching her during her testimony. Miriam craned her neck to study the man and concluded that her niece was in love. Another reason to hate her. Miriam's lawyer had wisely chosen not to put her on the stand to speak on her own behalf. Anything the woman said would be a lie and easily refuted, so she remained silent while everyone else determined her fate.

The sensational aspects of her trial filled the newspapers for days and days, but at the end, a verdict of guilty was a foregone conclusion. While her lawyer argued for a life sentence, Miriam had all but given up any desire to live. When her fate was decided, she would be content to go to her death in a Texas prison. If the future in prison was anything like the past year had been, she would be subjected to beatings, sexual assaults and a constant state of tyranny at the hands of her fellow inmates. Prison was hell on earth and Miriam was in no way prepared to deal with it for the next 30 years. Weeks later, the day of the sentencing arrived, with no one there to support Miriam. Cal and Adri decided that they would not be there to hear Miriam's fate. They had much more important things to do with their day.

Miriam stood alone in the prisoner's dock surrounded by curious onlookers who wanted to see this woman punished for her wickedness. Prison had defeated her, both mentally and physically. The woman who was led into the courtroom in chains bore little resemblance to the imperious woman she once had been only 18 months earlier. Then Miriam had been well groomed and defiant in the face of the charges brought against her, now she looked like a shadow of her former self. Long grey tangled hair and a wrinkled, defeated face dominated by haunted eyes met the onlookers in the courtroom. Her stooped and rounded shoulders indicated a broken spirit. When the court was called to order, Miriam was forced to rise to hear her final fate. The Judge read out his sentencing report, enumerating her many crimes: four murders of those closest to her, her parents and brother, and his wife; the kidnapping, assaults and ultimately attempted murders of Calvin, Adrianna and FBI Consultant Patrick Jane. Then he ruled in favour of the death penalty, as her crimes were cruel and calculated, and she had attempted to add three more people to her list of victims. She posed an ongoing risk to anyone she encountered.

As the death penalty was read out, a small gasp arose from the witnesses in the courtroom, but Miriam stood defiantly silent. She regretted nothing except being caught, and for that she wanted to shout a loud 'Fuck You!" to the entire judicial system. Wisely, she did not. She would be moved to Death Row before the end of the day where she would reside, alone in a cell, until stress and an evil heart made her old before her time. A few years later, when the sentence was finally carried out, she had become haggard, toothless, exhausted and ready to pay for her sins. Death would become her reward at last.

The End.


End file.
